Inadi looked at the glass beneath his feet and couldn't help but feel uneasy, the grip on his spear tightening as his nerves grew. He had argued with a few of the people on the airship about bringing it with him, but throwing his weight around he was able to get it on the ship with only a few withstanding objections. He had almost grown attached at the hip to the thing after all the training he had done with it over the human's time in the Queen's castle with Harper also working on his swordsmanship. He felt much more confident with the weapon in his hand now then before, thus prompting him to bring it with him.

His nerves aside though, Inadi had to marvel at the sight before him. The glass floor exposed amazing buildings that he had only seen in his mind while reading fantasy novels as a child. Now here stood skyscrapers and other massive structures that were surrounded by amazing scenes of green and lights. In the sky around them flew airships of a modest design that looked as if they should not have been able to get off the ground. It was truly a something that he was taking in with a smile beaming on his face.

Riley's astonishment at the city brought the framed face of Inadi back to the room and watched as the Nobody that tried to get them out to enjoy the deck left with his pet in his arms. It could be assumed that there were probably much larger things of similar nature in the city of Cogs and Gears, but to what end made Inadi almost a little hesitant. Perhaps giant goliaths powered by steam and moving with the sound of grinding metal made him wonder what kinds of challenges would await them all. This was supposed to be a simple fetch and go kind of visit though. Perhaps they would be lucky enough to escape this place without so much as a moment of excitement.

Birds flew by as Inadi looked over at Ace wanting one for herself. Laughing next to Jasper, he shook his head at the red head girl that he could only say was acting like a child going to the pet store for the first time. “I doubt that Ace. Frankly I don't know how much good a mechanical bird would do you in the end. It would rust every time it tried to use the bird bath,” Inadi joked as he stood up from his seat and gave a quick look to Jasper.

The two had decided to try and....Inadi decided the best term for it was to 'go steady' in this instance. He and Jasper had grown to have a mutual attraction and rather than simply ignore it and continue to be awkward about it, they decided to step up and see if it could work. Now they were acknowledging it, yet they were still a very awkward duo it seemed. Most of the blame Inadi took upon himself as he always seemed to out think his actions. Maybe he had read too many romance novels and thought about the right and wrong ways character's he had read about approached the idea of dating. It could also just be that he was slightly nervous with all the slight jabs he had received from some in the group over the time they had announced their intent and now. Either way, he enjoyed his time whenever he was with Jasper. It helped ease his mind and worries whenever she was around now. How odd such a simple act can make one's very existence all the more helpful to his own.

“Jasper, I'm going to head out to the deck for a little while. I've been meaning to get a little bit of extra practice with Kain for a while now. I'll be back before you know it,” He told the girl next to him as he took the spear, which he had now named with the insistence of soldiers back at Queen Delirium's castle, off the wall and out towards the deck of the ship. Before leaving the door the boy turned to Harper and gave a quick nod of the head. A silent gesture, but one Inadi had been shooting towards the leader of the group to tell him the option to join ins his training was there. Knowing Harper had just said he would rather stay in, Inadi didn't wait up but still felt that setting the offer down was a good gesture to make.

As he exited the door, he saw Toby, Riley and Ran out near the railing of the ship, taking in the view with the wind blowing by. Lesley was also there and Inadi watched as each person in the group looked as if their hair was starting to take a life of their own. Each strand danced in the wind and Inadi was forced to hold onto his glasses as he began adjusting to the breeze. Quietly walking towards an open area of the deck, Inadi began adjusting to the movement of the ship and the wind in his stance. He gripped the spear tightly and let out a slow breath to ease his muscles. It was as if he was trying to merge with the spear, Kain, itself.

Quickly he began swinging the weapon in many directions and showed his own unique style with spear. Because he had decided on sharpening the edge of the weapon as well as the tip it was now so versatile that it was not much different to that of a sickle or a naginata. His grunts and quick breaths while maintaining his speed and balance caught the eyes of more than a few deckhands on the ship, who were now trying to avoid getting anywhere near the man. The man training on the deck was blind to their stares and uncertainty as he quickly came to a stop, his breathing heavy and sweat beginning to build on his brow.

Inadi had grown much more devoted to the cause of defending those around him and it showed on his face. His eyebrows scrunched together, the determined look in his eyes. Both of which looking at Lesley's arm as the man stood next to the railing. Every injury he had been around to see, Inadi had been blaming on himself for most of his sleepless nights back in the Queen's castle. He was tired of seeing the pain and death. He was determined to strike down the next foe who tried to harm those he had grown attached too. The thought of another friend being hurt made him grind his teeth together and Kain to begin slicing at the wind again. Each swing of the steel making the whistling wind turn into a screech as it fought against the breeze created by the ship flying against it.

44th sleep cycle.

The girl dabbed at the page with the short fountain pen in hand, and series of letters accumulated from the trail of the tip.

In the time at the castle, she learnt many things. There was a time when she couldn’t remember what it felt like to have time to rest. And time to think, too. She had both during her stay and she was determined to make good use of it.

It took a while to adjust to it, both mind and body. What was left of wounds mended themselves gradually, and there was no way to tell when exactly the pain went away entirely. It probably never did; though it probably didn’t matter anyway.

She learnt to keep track of time in terms of what she called sleep cycles - every time she wakes up is the start of a new one. Indeed, it wasn’t reliable, and had little to do with the actual flow of time. Yet she decided that it fitted, in that time in Nowhere didn’t behave exactly as expected, and the cycles at least served so that she’d have a guideline in regard to the order of events.

The notebook she wrote on was not large, just small enough to hold in one hand. The pages were more papyrus than the printing paper she found in books, the binding was string, and the cover was a darker shade of blue than the one she looked for. But it came close enough.

She wasn’t sure how much of what she remembered of Hakuren was still reliable, and she could forever only guess what was that he used to write in his notes. These words, though, were her own.

The longer you stay, the more you forget, she was told. She was depending on the ink to fade slower than her memory would.

...On course to collect next item on list. At harbour. Will soon be headed for City of Cogs & Gears via propelled buoyant aircraft.

“Coming.”

She ended the sentence and pulled her sight away from the pages and answered, tucking the notebook and pen into her shirt pocket as she trotted towards the boarding gate and joined her friends.The giant, metal-structure balloon of the ariship was visible hovering in the distance, the rotors attached to the bottom rotating idly.

* * * * *

Leila would probably have preferred being on the deck slightly over staying in the cabin, if not for that there were windows all around the space and, most importantly, the transparent opening that took up much of the centre of the floor, which allowed her an excellent view of what was directly beneath as well.

Besides, there was that insuppressible urge to take the jump when she was at the edge of anywhere high enough in the air.

"Hey Leila, take a look at that."

She stood up from the leather-coated bench and joined Harper at the window, and cast her sights through the glass upon the gigantic structures that composed the City of Cogs and Gears. The window was wide enough for both of them.

Below, mechanical support beams steadily moved, carrying the buildings atop of them like a waiter’s hand did dinner plates. Transport in the city seemed to take all forms, from wheeled to tracked to legged, and hoards of those machines clung at every angle onto the structure of the city. That the City of Cog and Gears was a grand sight wasn’t a fact that was rarely referred to, but the intricacy and integrity of the entire infrastructure was only possible to appreciate when met with her own eyes. It felt less like a city, more like an enormous, organic creature sitting upon the land, sustaining the lives of those who resided on it. Gasps of wonder were never something that the atmosphere in the airship lacked.

Leila then glanced over her shoulder briefly to see the mechanic tinkering desperately with a malfunctioning robot, whose limbs flailed as much as the Nobody’s grasp would allow, as steam puffed out irregularly from its ears and mouth and openings in its joints. Back when she first arrive on the ship it took her about five minutes of observation from a distance to realize that it appeared to be self-aware and what she felt in the subsequent moments was as close as possible to what she imagined people meant when they said their hearts melted. That feeling was clearly not mutual, however, as when Leila failed to resist the urge to run over and touch the robot, its heart happened to melt as well with the heart here being the machine’s circuit work.

And even after the most sincere of apologies she could have uttered and the Nobody repeatedly responding that she needed not worry about it and politely assuring that it was not her fault, Leila couldn’t help but feel that bit of guilt whenever she laid eyes on the two of them. The Nobody now spoke of a hovering village where great inventors resided, and Leila decided she was determined to at least see that place too if she had the chance.

A city of machines, a village in the air. They had compared this trip to a vacation and almost everything Leila felt agreed with that notion. She turned to smile at Harper, who commented on it being a nice change of pace - it was, indeed. There was rest at the castle, but also there were memories and she found that troubling every now and then. What she needed was actually more a chance of scene than a change of pace, and this seemed to be that. She pondered as she lay her gaze idly upon the contours of the buildings and structures below, and far away. A trip to somewhere far, far away...

Funny how the jagged outline at the horizon almost reminded her of home.

She then noticed the fearful expression that appeared on Harper’s face for a moment, but didn’t understand what it represented. She had been paying more attention to details on what people did and what they indicated, but there were still times like this. She sighed inwardly, but made her best effort to hide her frustration lest those who saw her felt the same.

Harper motioned for the others to come as well and went back to looking out the window. Leila did the same, brushing a few strands of hair out of her eyes as she watched the metal dinosaur walk out of sight.

Ran clamped onto the rim of his top hat tightly. The lacey cuff whipped his face. He hunched forward while fighting against the wind. His cape flew wildly behind him. The only part of his current outfit that wasn’t hindering his progress was his tight fitting, lace trimmed waistcoat. He secretly wondered how those old fashioned gentlemen managed to walk upright during windy days. Perhaps they had servants to push them forward or something. A metallic hand reached out and grabbed his right forearm and pulled him towards the railing.

“Thanks!”

The pink haired man smiled, and Ran couldn’t help smiling in return. The older man gripped the railing tightly after making sure his black and gold falcon head cane was still suspended round the crook of his arm. His other hand continued holding down his hat which was still threatening to fly away. He felt Lesley pat his shoulder reassuringly. His yellow eyes looked in the direction his companion was pointing to and he gaped.

“That’s … that’s like… like so steampunk!”

Somehow he couldn’t recall the names of the various steampunk-esque books and anime that he had seen over the last few years. Dang! He must be getting old. How could he forget after all that research? He had lived, breathed and dreamed of nothing but steampunk for the many months because of the book cover he had to design back… when… well… back when he was working - somewhere? He studied the architecture of the buildings. He loved how the walls were covered with intricately designed cogs that moved in tandem.

“Have you ever dreamed of living in a bell tower or a cuckoo clock? I can’t imagine having to ring the bell or shout cuckoo several times every hour. Speak of the devil, look at that!”

Ran pointed to a large clock tower. The hour hand stopped at the XII mark. It was twelve noon. The window underneath sprung open and a platform rolled out. A huge table stood right in the center. Seated round it were twelve hungry mechanical Nobodies. Their hands moved up and down in unison as they brought pieces of food into their mouth. He whistled in admiration. Truthfully he was disappointed the ship was stopping there. He really wanted to see what happens at the next hour. He suspected that the “robots” will be doing different things throughout the day.

Riley said "Hey gramps, do you have your sketchbook? Ugh, I'd take a photo if I could. If we don't capture this moment, it'll be an absolute crime—oh geez! Stupid birds, wrecking the moment!"

Toby said "If Ran doesn't have his sketchbook, than there's only one solution. If we can't sketch it, and we can't paint it, our only option is to take a beautiful mental picture using our brain powers. Just point your lens towards the horizon annnnnnd … Ta-da! Now i'll never forget this.”

“Riley! Toby! Glad both of you can join us. Actually my sketchpad is with me. It’s right over …. Ooops!”

The oldest among the group let go of his hat for a brief second, and rascally thing took off. The poor man flailed as he tried to retrieve the runaway headpiece. He wasn’t the only one trying to retrieve it, but the top hat taunted them as it drifted further away. The birds were completely forgotten. Crap! Martini will be disappointed. He had promised he would return the suit in one piece.

Boy said “Hey mister, I think you dropped this.”

Ran craned his head trying to see who it was. There was would whoosh as something zipped pass. Soon there was a soft sputter followed by some swearing. The mechanical coughing was replaced by a smooth purr. Before long a boy, who looked no older than Harper, drifted backwards on his hover board. He pulled to a stop in front of the humans gathered along the railings and touched the tip of his fedora. Tucked under his right arm was Ran’s hat. The young Nobody grinned as he reached out and plonked the top hat onto the man’s head. Ran immediately clutched the rim tightly. The hat was threatening to fly off again.

“Good catch!”

The boy beamed. “You were lucky I was doing my rounds. Anyhow I gotta go! Have to send these lunchboxes before the food gets cold.”

The delivery boy sped off into the distance on his noisy hover board. Now that it was relatively quieter, the whistling of the steel slicing the air became more audible. Ran nodded his head in Inadi’s direction to get the others to look as well. Slowly he turned around till he was standing with his back pressed against the railing. This was perhaps the only way he can get a better view. He remained silent as he watched the bespectacled young man practice with Kane. Each movement flowed seamlessly into the next. When the boy was done, he whooped loudly along with the rest of the spectators. He wanted to clap, but didn’t trust his hat enough to let go.

...

.

.

.

.

 

The next couple of weeks passed by rather quickly and within each flitting day contained precious time she spent getting to know the members of her batch. From exploring every crook and cranny of the Queens castle to getting into all sorts of trouble whilst roaming around the town. The two months after the witch fight was a much needed vacation for healing both mentally and physically. Among the memorable scenarios that had taken place before their next mission was starting a dating relationship with Inadi. Everything about it was new to her and she wasn’t sure if it was a foreign experience for him as well. Though they were still not completely comfortable with each other yet, she felt at ease when he was around and his company was always enjoyable. The status has caused a bit of teasing from others, but she didn't feel the need to be ashamed about it.

A sigh slowly seeped out of her nostrils while she went on with packing her belongings. Spare sets of clothing and some disinfectant; she was ready to go. The Queen had assured them that this quest would be the easiest of all. Their only task was to retrieve a USB that had already been prepared for pick up. Pulling her long hair back into a loose braid, she swung her teddy bear backpack to settle on both shoulders before heading out to join the others. Sadly, “the others” did not include the guides and this did worry her a bit, but then again, this item hunt shouldn’t be too troublesome. Or so she hoped.

~~~~~~~~

Aboard the ship, Jasper stayed clear of the transparent flooring, feeling nauseous whenever she set foot on it.  A Nobody, who was currently trying to tame a malfunctioning robot, announced that they would be landing very soon and she was glad to hear that they would finally be brought down on solid ground. He pitched a suggestion for them to head out to the deck. Most of them followed his proposal and scattered out onto the outdoor platform, Inadi informed her that he was headed out as well and she responded with a nod of acceptance. She decided to take in the view from inside a little longer. Taking a peek at the glass, she marvelled at the walking structures below, billowing clouds of steam into the atmosphere. The dinosaur building in particular reminded her of “Howl’s Moving Castle”, a movie she watched often when she was younger.

Cautiously tip-toeing her way around the see-through flooring, she pushed the exit handle and her face was immediately met with a wave of violent wind. Her hair flew up and whipped her cheeks in a flurry of unpredictable movements. Squinting against the force of the breeze she applied even more pressure onto the door handle, stepping onto the open snout of the flying vehicle with much hesitation. It felt as if she was going to be blown right off her feet like a piece of dust getting sucked into a vacuum. Weightless. Helpless. Her knuckles grew white from gripping the railing so tightly. Ace turned her, asking if they’d be able to take a robot back with them. Inadi replied with a joke and Jasper laughed lightly and shrugged, “Who knows? They might let you if you ask.” Having a group companion wouldn’t be a bad idea. At least they’d have something to lighten the mood at any given moment. 

Catching sight of Inadi practicing father down the deck, he looked deep and thought, his focus fully immersed while he swung his spear in various directions. It almost appeared like a sort of dance, it was pleasant to watch. Turning to face the sight below once more, she closed her eyes and inhaled the fresh air, grinning in her peaceful mood. Glancing up, she wondered if there really was a city above them, floating all on its own. Nowhere seemed to be a realm without impossibilities, rules or limitations. Especially in the area of science, it defied all restrictions posed as fact on Earth, but alas, this was not Earth. Hearing cheering begin to erupt behind her, she swiveled around to see what the ruckus was all about. Seeing that the source was none other than Kain and Inadi, she joined in on the clapping. “Hey Gramps!” She called out to Ran and slid her way towards him and some of the other humans. “Since the stage is all set, why don’t show us some of your dance moves?” She teased. He had won the dance contest after all and she and the others hadn’t gotten the chance to see how exactly he had done it.

Inadi quickly ended his training and set his weapon off to the side as he began hearing a new sound over the roaring of the wind around him. Looking over to the railing where he saw the others standing at, he realized it was Ran and a few others cheering him on it would seem after his little show he put on. A flush of red went over his face as he quickly began fumbling the spear in his hands. A shy smile appeared on his face as he laughed somewhat half-heartedly.

He walked over to the others and tried regaining some of his composure. “I didn't realize you all were watching. Had I known that I would have gone someplace else so none of you would have seen that.” Inadi told them all as he gripped the railing lightly. Truth be told he was not comfortable letting others watch his training exercises. Back at the castle he and Harper had been constantly going to the training room they had picked out and locked the door behind them. The boy just felt like his skill with the weapon wasn't up to par with what he wanted it to be quite yet, and for the others to see him practicing was like being caught in a bath. He was exposed to everyone and he definitely didn't like that idea.

Ran was the one who had been hollering the loudest when he finished up. The new member of the group was the oldest among all of them, so when Jasper referred to him as Gramps it made him laugh a little bit. Granted Ran was older than them, but by no means was he a grandparent in age. If anything he was an uncle or something similar to that. Jasper eventually got next to the rest of the group just as Inadi did and began pressing Ran to try and show them all his dance moves he supposedly had.

Inadi had almost completely forgotten about that dance competition months ago. He so desperately was hoping to join in on the fun but was caught up taking care of his wardrobe problem. Ran eventually ended up winning the whole thing and it made the boy curious as to what all he did to win it. Inadi had even tried asking Ran about teaching him how to dance after he found out, but never really had the time to do so with all the other things going on.

“Yeah come on Ran! I showed you my dance of sorts. Now it's time for you to show us yours,” He teased a bit as he pointed back towards the part of the deck that Inadi used for his practice session. “Heck maybe you can even teach some of us a thing or two about dancing while you do so. Like lessons or something.” Inadi mentioned, hoping that the man would accept the request. Inadi had always seen himself as someone with two left feet so the opportunity to watch someone else and learn was a chance he didn't want to pass up on. It might even help him when and if Jasper ever wanted to dance, though he wasn't sure if Jasper was the dancing type. Then again, she had surprised him before. Better to be ready than unprepared. He waited for Ran to respond and leaned on the railing behind him, the wind still blowing past the humans like a small hurricane.

Jasper said “Hey Gramps! Since the stage is all set, why don’t show us some of your dance moves?”

Ran laughed. “I swear Riley’s the trendsetter among you.”

He paused for awhile. Her name should be on the tip of his tongue. It should! Something that starts with ‘J’ and rhymes with ‘Casper’… J-A-S-P-E-R… Jasper! Yes that’s right. Jasper! She’s the girl with the white hair and ruby red eyes like dragon – a wish dragon to be precise – the white one from the Never Ending Story. People with this coloring that have a condition known as… once again his memory failed him. He was sure it was a hereditary condition involving something called genes. He decided to let it slide. Science was never his strong subject, but it was still better than Math.

Inadi said “Yeah come on Ran! I showed you my dance of sorts. Now it's time for you to show us yours.”

“Woah… oh… oh! Two against one? I give!” Ran replied with a laugh. “I give! Lesley … or Jasper, can one of you pretty ladies hold onto my coat and hat? I’d hate to make Martini sad.”

Much to the man’s relief, most of the crew had dispersed, which means there were only four of humans watching. He doubted any of them went to a club before with the exception of Lesley and perhaps Inadi. Though honestly speaking he didn’t think Inadi would have been to one before. The younger man looked far too studious and serious. Frankly, Inadi reminded him of the typical university academic protégé – the scholarship student who always topped the Dean’s List. He wouldn’t be surprised if the black haired young man, who was probably of Japanese descent based on his name, turned out to be a genius in his own right.

Ran passed his coat to one of the other humans and straightened his waistcoat. “Thanks!”

The group’s Gramps began twirling his cane experimentally. He managed to keep gripped between his pointer finger and his middle finger. Ran transferred the can back towards the palm of his hand before attempting to toss the black and gold wooden rod from one hand to the other. His left hand caught it by the head. That was a near miss!

“I hope … I er… don’t really sing that well, but I prefer dancing with music. Just… erm… just pretend you are listening to Smooth Criminal on youtube alright?”

As he came into the window
It was the sound of a crescendo
He came into her apartment
He left the bloodstains on the carpet
She ran underneath the table
He could see she was unable
So she ran into the bedroom
She was struck down, it was her doom

Ran began his dance routine by leaning forward till he was tilted forty five degrees from the floor. His voice was far deeper than MJ's, but well, he can't do anything about it. The first move was known as the anti-gravity lean. The only thing "supporting" him was his cane. He did the Running Man steps round the cane while remaining in that angle. He circled the cane twice then he pulled himself up. He drew the cane up and held it horizontal to his chest. He shuffled to the right and then shuffled to the left. Then cane moving left to right in time with each step. He turned on the spot Michael Jackson style incorporating the same shuffling steps from earlier to jazz it up. The cane was tucked in the area where the seat of his pants joins with the legs. It helped him maintain his posture as he spun round and round.

Annie, are you ok?
So, Annie are you ok
Are you ok, Annie
Annie, are you ok?
So, Annie are you ok
Are you ok, Annie
Annie, are you ok?
So, Annie are you ok?
Are you ok, Annie?
Annie, are you ok?
So, Annie are you ok, are you ok Annie?

He twisted to face the rest of the group and spun the cane in front of him. He passed the cane behind and caught it. The man continued performing a few more tricks with it. Not every trick was executed perfectly, but he was satisfied. This was his first time trying these stunts. He always wanted to try being Charlie Chaplain on the dance floor.

“Are you kids ready to party?” He asked cheery. “Let’s do the Gangnam Style!”

The Airship: Inner Room

"Ha! Well, what do you know. We're here, and in record time to boot." The nobody pulled off his hat and slapped it onto the flailing robot's head, he looked right and left then beamed. "Your friends sure are excited, eh?" Most of the lost souls had already disappeared onto the deck, and only Leila and Harper remained, their eyes glued to the the sights that unraveled before them. "Well, you'll see the entire city up close real soon. In fact," he gave them both a devious looking smirk, "we'll be jumping off the airship."

The words went in one ear then out the next. "That sounds fantastic," Harper didn't even flinch, and he had his forehead pressed against one of the glass windows. The Clockwork towers and Victorian-esque architecture below made him want to do a little happy dance. "Leila," he beamed brightly, "it's...it's so," he couldn't find a word that would do it justice. "Amazing." Harper stood back a little and stared in awe at the floating bus terminal they had just floated past. The boy waved like an excited child at the figures the stood by the terminal, and robots and nobodies alike waved back.

"Heh, glad you two like it." He arched an eyebrow at them then laughed. "Don't tell me the human realm doesn't have any floating terminals?"

"No, nothing like this."

The Nobody laughed at how ecstatic Harper looked. "It must be pretty boring then." The little robot ran around in circles, the hat was covering his eyes and he crashed into Leila's leg. It let out a beep before falling onto its backside. "So, what is the human realm like?" He watched as the robot made beeping sounds in an attempt to get Leila to carry him. "Y'know, every time we get a batch of humans they always talk about how amazing Nowhere is, but in the end...ha, they always want to go home. If that's the case then it must be pretty amazing, right?"

The question snapped Harper out of his daze and he gave Leila a curious glance. She still made him curious most of the time, though she was slowly beginning to open up to the rest of them. "Well, we don't have any dragons or evil mushrooms, and we don't have castles in the sky..."

The mechanic scrunched up his nose in distaste and waited for him to finish.

"But, you're right, It's an amazing place," Harper turned to look at Leila and smiled. "Don't you think so too?"

Really, it was the little things he missed most. Things like his mom's spaghetti, his sister's optimism, and his father's horrible jokes. Sure, Nowhere had chocolate rivers and magic amulets but it couldn't compete with home.

"Ey, Japhet, enough chitchat." A girl in a jumpsuit stated with a grin. "Hand the humans their parachutes, we don't want to keep Lt. Falkner and her troops waiting." She raised up two bags and tossed them at the humans. "Catch."

Harper barely had time to react and he let out a puff of air when the heavy bag collided with his chest. "Wait...what? We're jumping?"

The Nobody chuckled, "yeah, told you awhile ago, kid. C'mon, help me bring some of these onto the deck."

They were going to jump off an airship...

They were going to jump...

Ha, it was high time he stopped being surprised by things like this. Harper stared at the bag in his arms, and despite the uncertainty, he ended up laughing at the situation they were in. "Well, I guess we try new things every day."

"Now that's the spirit!" Japhet gave them both a hearty smack on the back before he walked off towards the parachutes. "Harper and Leila, right?" When the boy nodded his head the Nobody laughed. "It sounds like the human realm is worth fighting for, good luck."

---

The Airship: On the Deck



Mechanical birds, clockwork towers, and airships. It really felt like they were on vacation, and for once, Riley decided to hang back. While all her friends did various things, she leaned against the railing and decided to count clouds. Well, until Ran's hat was blown away.

The girl spun around and the next thing that happened made her squeal.

It was a real hoverboard. A freaking hoverboard. Riley gaped and it didn't help that the boy who was riding it, looked rather cute himself. Suits and top hats were always attractive. Man, Kimberly would have loved it here. The girl didn't realize it, but she was shaking the poor Lesley back and forth. "Grandpa is right...it's like we're in Howl's Moving Castle or something. Inadi! We have to write about this, it would be a crime if we didn't." Then again, Nowhere was a story just waiting to happen.

Riley watched as he fiddled with his spear. He was getting really good at it. The girl turned her attention to Toby and Ace. "Forget the mechanical bird. You know what we should get instead?" She grinned from ear to ear then pointed at something in the distance. "Hoverboards, that's what."

“I give! Lesley … or Jasper, can one of you pretty ladies hold onto my coat and hat? I’d hate to make Martini sad.”

Ran was going to dance? Damn, this day couldn't get any better! Like the others Riley cheered him on, it was no wonder he had won the dance contest.

"Now those moves are impressive," the door to the cabin slid open and out walked Japhet, he carried a bunch of parachutes in his arm and his little robot companion did the same. Harper and Leila followed after, assisting him with the bags. "We've reached the port, guys." The nobody grinned, "you'll be jumping off the ship, so put these on. They're really simple to use and I'll be heading down with you, so don't worry."

Harper popped up from behind the nobody and gave everyone a wave. "Crazy, huh? He's absolutely serious."

"Jump? Er, I love a good adventure, but I don't exactly want to die this way...can we get hoverboards instead?" Riley asked.

Japhet shook his head and laughed, "really, it'll be fine, all you'll have to do is pull the string."

"Uh-huh..."

"I'll show you, now no time to dilly dally, adventure is out there!" And with that the Nobody raced towards the railings, climbed them and leaped off the airship. He whooped and cheered before pulling at the string.

Riley pushed herself against the railing and watched as the man glided towards the city, his parachute, a bright yellow. "Damn, now that is amazing, so...who wants to go first?" She grabbed onto one of the bags and put it on. "Ace? Toby? Anyone? I dare you to go ahead." To be honest, this was frightening, and someone accepting her dare would give her that extra ounce of courage she needed to jump. "Double dare?"

"Well, we can't keep the troops waiting." Harper tried to laugh as he made his way towards the railing. He looked pale as hell, but he tried to smile and Riley had to give him credit for that. After the witch fight, he became more willing to take the lead. Maybe it was because of his near brush with death, or maybe it was just determination. Whatever it was, the boy didn't seem as naive or worried anymore. "Gosh...w-we're really high up, aren't we?"

Riley gave him a tap on the back, "of course we are...oh...CRAP."

Harper lost his balance and began to fall. His yelling pretty much echoed throughout the place, but with shaky fingers he managed to pull at the string and his parachute flared open. The yelling stopped and he took everything in with wide eyes. "Guys! THIS FEELS AMAZING!" A light breeze made him spin around and the soon enough, he was back to screaming his lungs out.

Ace wrinkled her nose a little when Inadi said they wouldn't be able to get one. "Ruin my dreams why don't you." Though, Jasper redeemed Ace's happiness by saying there was a chance. The redhead grinned and stuck her tongue out at Inadi. "See? Your girlfriend thinks it would be possible. Why can't you?" Ever since the two started dating, Ace made it almost like a reminder to them because she'd say boyfriend or girlfriend instead of their names. It was only to get a reaction out of them.

She went back to leaning on the rail, grinning at the idea of getting a hoverboard instead. "I think I'd prefer that... I want one..." Maybe she could get one when they got to the city. And maybe a cute guy on a hoverboard, like the one that passed by could teach them how to ride. Behind her, suddenly performances were being put on. Inadi displayed his talent with his spear- and Ace was a little jealous knowing he got to keep it- even if he didn't have the lightning powers. And she was definitely reluctant in giving her amulet up. Without her fire sword she was just regular Ace and not cool swordswoman with a flaming sword Ace. It made her sigh, but she did enjoy the show.

And then Ran had his time to shine. Ace honestly didn't know how to react to him dancing. It looked a little silly at first, especially without music. But she wasn't much of a dancer regardless so she couldn't judge. Overall, he did get an applause from her because she did enjoy it. He was a silly man. Rather odd, but his company was still nice. Ace was in fact still trying to learn of Ran's quirks. The offer to party made Ace laugh and shake her head. "I'll pass. You guys go on and have fun." While the party ensued, Ace noticed Harper and Leila walk out with one of the Nobodies, carrying a couple of bags.

Jumping off the airship? Ace gave an almost devious grin. "No worries Riley! No need to dare me into it! I'll do-" She watched as Harper braved his way to the front lines. And then seconds later accidentally pushed off. "Heh, what a brave soldier. He's going to lead us to victory. Hehe, with Inadi helping him along the way. But anyway, " Ace looked over at the group and laughed. "We could always jump in pairs... Let's see... Inadi and Jasper of course. Lesley and Ran, Riley you could jump with Toby annnd," She noticed Leila still behind, having been left behind by Harper. "Come on Leila! We can jump together!" There wasn't much time for Leila to protest considering Ace had already bounded forward and grabbed Leila's hand. "It'll be fun!" With every step, there was a word of encouragement towards the quiet girl.

When they both climbed onto the railing, Ace saluted the remaining few. "We'll see you when you land." She grinned and then stepped off the railing. "WOOOHOOO!" Ace yelled out as she fell. She tossed her fist in the air before spreading her arms as if she could fly. Some time in the drop, she even let go of Leila's hand in order to do a few spins in the air, managing to look at the clouds in awe. She stopped being a daredevil and pulled the string, opening her parachute.

The wind caught it and she was pulled to a slower fall, making her laugh as she floated the rest of the way down.

"THIS IS AMAZING!"

It was absolutely spectacular. The city appeared to resemble the insides of a clock. Ginormous teethed wheels scraped and turn, its cut-outs meshing perfectly with a miniature version of itself. White smoke would puff out every now and then, clouding his vision from up above whilst he observed through the large transparent flooring. A Nobody had just let them know that they'd be leaving the airship shortly and beckoned them towards the exposed deck. Heading off with a misbehaving little robot in hand, Lesley eagerly followed the crowd flowing out onto the ship's outer board.

The weeks of vacation flew by like a breeze, like they always say, 'Time flies by when you're having fun,' and with all the crazy bonding time he spent with his friends, it sure did. He was glad to have strengthened connections with his fellow humans and guides. Apart from relationship building, he also had plenty of hours "on hand" to adjust to his new prosthetic. It had become a part of him almost. By now, he had become so accustomed to the thing that it felt like he never lost a limb at all. The haunting image of its loss now escaped his mind and a dreadful sensation would not wash over him any more whenever he laid eyes on it. For this, he was granted a renewed positivity in the future of this wild adventure.

---

Riley: "Lesley You need to paint this...this is beautiful."

Lesley could hear the sniffles in between her words and he wrapped an arm around her dearingly, taking in the details of every scene, trying his best to suck up the view as whole for future works of art. She then moved on the inquire Ran about his sketchbook while Toby jumped in with his own 'camera' holding out his squared fingers along with his out "clicking" noises. Giggling, Lesley pretended to have a 'finger-camera' too, flicking his tongue to audibly confirm each shot. Reaching over, the man ruffled the boy's hair with a light chuckle. Slowly but surely, Lesley was starting to feel out his position in the group as the "mother" while Ran took up the humble dub of "Gramps". As he thought about the newbie, it seemed to subliminally signal Ran to come over and Lesley gave him a gentle touch to the backside with a warm smile. Both of them grinned as boy on a hoverboard flew by to give Ran his hat back. Then all of a sudden, Riley was shaking him back in forth as she exclaimed about the passing citizen of Cogs.

"Yes! I know, this place is like," Lesley paused in his struggle for an appropriate word, "It's CRAZY!"

Turning around to face the commotion, Lesley hooted and hollered along with everybody else as Inadi gracefully performed a solo with his weapon. No wonder the frame-faced fella was always out of sight, he had been practicing all along. The pink haired man clapped to show how impressed he felt. At least he would come in handy if anymore battles came along. Another thing about his first romantic interest was that Inadi was now taken, by no other than Jasper. Lesley wasn't going to lie, he was a lil' bit jealous, but he had played the fairy god mother after all, bringing the two together. Right on cue, Jasper approached them and teased Ran on taking the stage following Inadi.

Tilting his head thoughtfully, Lesley urged Ran on, taking Grampy's belongings into his arms to allow Ran freedom of movement. Pinching his lips into his mouth, he almost burst out in a surprised cry as Ran began to sing. The man sounded absolutely amazing, his voice deep and sonorous. Not only was the singing great, but the dance moves that went along with it were spot on. Talk about entertainment, he was like Michael Jackson incarnate! In no time, they had all joined in and started dancing too, the whole deck was having their own little music video.

"Now those moves are impressive. We've reached the port, guys. You'll be jumping off the ship, so put these on. They're really simple to use and I'll be heading down with you, so don't worry."

Though the Nobody looked rather surprised to walk into a "club", he then proceeded to give the humans their very own parachutes before throwing himself off the ship to demonstrate how its done. Lesley shuffled and tapped his toes in excitement. "Ohhh! I've always wanted to try this!" Slipping into his own safety gear, Lesley helped Ran put his things back on. "Come on Ran, let's go together!" If the guy had hesitated or protested at all, Lesley had been to riled up to hear it because he was already yanking the man towards the railings as well. Most of the others had already sailed off and were nothing but ballooning, mushroom-like circles below. Holding Ran's hands within his own, "Ok... on the count of three." Lesley braced himself, gripping Ran's hands to tone down his own anxiety. "1, 2.....3!" Tugging his partner's hands as he leapt off the balcony, he was laughing on the way down, allowing Ran to fly freely as their hold unclasped. "I'm flyingggg!!!" He could feel his mouth flapping in the surge of wind. Each second he neared the ground, Lesley almost forgot to pull the string in his euphoric daze, but luckily he did and the ride halted to a peaceful float to the bottom.

Life was going on as usual in the City of Cogs and Gears. Steam rose from the thick metal columns of factories afar, while the lively whirr and thudding of machinery echoed in the streets of the metropolis. Robots of all shapes and sizes hurried along with nobodies while a young boy zipped through the crowd on a dashing new hoverboard. Unfortunately, it didn’t look like the child had completely mastered the device and this inexperience, added to the growing panic that he was feeling, made for crash and burn gliding. Random shrieks and exclamations filled the air as the child rushed his way to a large, imposing building off a few ways from the City Hall… The Museum Nova.

The boy caught up to his mother and little sister, and together they walked in from the grandiose entrance to the wide entrance hall where sunlight streamed in from the narrow glass ceiling. It was considerably quieter inside the museum compared to the outside but there was still a subtle hum of in the air from the various devices on display. This place was a cornucopia of all technological innovation that has been, was and will be created in the City of Cogs and Gears, although the architecture of the building was of the stone and marble combination which had been so famous some centuries back.

The three strolled through the first exhibit area until something caught the boy’s eye. He detached himself from his mother and sister, the latter of which was inspecting an Old Age hologram, and headed for the giant mech on the other side of the room.

“Huh, it looks weird,” The boy muttered to himself as he approached the Old Age robot, which was, as expected, more like a grotesque mass of metal welded together with a glass dome set over the top area. He put down his hoverboard against the railing and was about to climb over the bars when he realized that there was a soldier sitting behind the synth model.

“Oh snap snap snap. I wasn’t doing anythin’, officer! Nothing at all!” The child squeaked and skidded back from the railing as if the metal burned him. The man didn’t even stir. On closer inspection, the nobody, wearing the dark green uniform of the low-ranking officers in the army, had his arms crossed over his chest and his beret slung down his face. Was he sleeping? Wasn’t he supposed to guard the displays from troublemakers?

Ah, whatever.

The boy took the opportunity and jumped over the bars, landing on the soft soil around the square plot of stone where the synth stood. Cackling to himself, he reached over and…

WHIRRRRRR

From the other side of the room, the boy’s mother was trying to prevent her daughter from destroying a bust and was yet to notice her son’s disappearance. Nor did she notice how one of the biggest pieces in the room, a five-meter tall Old Age robot, suddenly spurred to life with blue light inking out from its core.

“Snap snap snap, what do I do!?” The boy whined as he backed against the railing, “I just pressed one of the weird disc things on its knee and then suddenly…!” He was totally in for it now!

“Aaaaaah, what’s that sound?” The child glanced towards the voice and saw that the sleeping soldier from earlier was now awake and stretching his arms. The nobody flicked his beret up and whipped his head around before finally zoning in on the robot and the desperate boy, and he blinked for a couple of seconds before getting up. “Oh hey, you activated it,” He casually said and slung a leg over the railing while peering up at the glowing synth. Without explaining much about anything, the soldier walked around it and fiddled with something, and the blue lights pulsing all throughout the synth suddenly died as it grew quiet once more.

“How’d you do that?” The boy gaped as Est reappeared and helped him down from the perch, “oh and sorry for the trouble, mister.”

The taller nobody shrugged and then gestured at the robot, “Well, I run shifts here a lot and I kinda noticed that the Old Civilization used a lot of sensory technology thingies, y’know? So I thought you might’ve touched it, and to turn it off I just had to override the control… thing. It’s hard to explain. Just don’t go poking the displays again okay kid?” While he was explaining, Est was gesturing and making strange circles in the air with his left hand, which the kid noticed but didn’t comment on. “Yeah and one more thing, is that a BlitzBoard ver.03?” This time, the soldier pointed to the hoverboard under the boy’s arm. The boy handed the device over and listened as the young man inspected it, “Hmm. Kinda laggy right? Slow start-up, fluctuating control? Try installing an upgraded core chip and repositioning the thrusters. Don’t buy those fancy new core boosters, it’s all just a load of crap. If you want to achieve better speed, you’re better off buying glass layers and anti-friction bolts.”

“Huh, you know a lot about these things. Why are you in the army?” The kid grinned as Est returned his item, and he responded with a shrug.

“Yeah I don’t know either, kid! Man, if there's one thing I know, it's that I’m sleepy… Those humans better get here soon,” The soldier yawned, waved goodbye at the child as he ran off, and retreated back to his seat. Time to go back for another afternoon nap...

Breeze should be around here somewhere. Wonder what she's doing right now?

“Oppa Gangnam style!”

Ran waved his hand enthusiastically over his head as though he was holding an invisible lasso. The rest of the crew mimicked him exactly. This feels epic. Absolutely mind blowing! The Nowherians really know how to have fun. What should they do next?

“Oppa…”

Captain Not Aki said "We've reached the port, guys. You'll be jumping off the ship, so put these on. They're really simple to use and I'll be heading down with you, so don't worry."

“… Gangnam style…?”

Everything came to an abrupt halt as the crew scrambled back to their positions. People shouted to one another while others ran around like lost ants. The hatless gentleman could barely hear anyone else over the din. He stared as he received his parachute from the captain. He laughed nervously, but Japhet was dead serious.

“Can we –”

Negotiate? Reconsider? Get a medical checkup? Write a will? All those words remained stuck on his tongue as he was dragged off by his assigned partner. He stared at Lesley as she led him up the railing. He blinked slowly. He barely noticed that he didn’t have his hat and coat on.

Lesley said "1, 2.....3!"

“AHHHHH!”

Ran yelled till he was out of breath! Then he smiled. The shouting made the whole thing feel heaps better. It was like yelling when you ride an insane roller coaster or the tomahawk. The Asian man spread out his arms and closed his eyes. Might as well enjoy this feeling while it lasts….

Rider Nympha said “WATCH OUT!”

His eyes flew open. The human tried his best to swim away, but there was no escaping. Ran winced as he crashed headlong into a Nobody. His cane slipped from his hand. Despite the woman trying to grab onto his arm, the man continued panicking. He was going to die!

Rider Nympha said “Stop. STOP! You will rock the bike.”

He flailed about helplessly as he tried his best to grab onto something. Somehow his gloved hand wrapped around the handle of the hovering vehicle as he fell off a second time, and sudden shift in weight caused the bike to tilt sideways. The poor rider screamed as she was sent hurtling off her own bike. All her groceries – loaves of bread, bottles of milk, fruits and vegetables of different colors and even a cake – spilled out from the basket mounted over the headlight at the front of the motorcycle. Ran stared helplessly as the woman and her purchases disappeared through the clouds directly below him. The last to pass through the clouds was the watermelon. He felt guilty surfacing from somewhere deep within, but his rational mind fought back. He took a couple of deep breaths. There was not much he could do at the moment, but throwing the woman a lifeline was better than nothing. At least he would have sometime to pull himself together. Ran shrugged off his parachute and tossed it as hard as he could in the rider's direction. He prayed it would reach her in time.

Niran gripped the handle with his other hand as well, and pulled himself up the overturned bike. He twisted and turned till he was seated down or in this case sideways. The motorcycle definitely was still running given that he was hovering in mid-air. He swallowed and twisted the right handle experimentally. He heard the bike rev up. Even before he can compose himself, the crazy vehicle shot forward. The momentum caused the vehicle to right itself once more. Ran looked around as he heard steam whistles, multiple bells and several horn toots. The last place he looked was straight ahead.

“GOD!”

He twisted the handles downwards and tried to lift the front of the bike. Up … up… up! It better go up or he was going to run straight into that bus-train thing coming straight at him. The hovering motorcycle shot straight up into the air at a ninety degree angle. The screaming bells and steam whistles grew softer and an the tooting of the horn became nothing more than a squeak as the craft continued on its way at a breakneck speed. Ran kept his seat, miraculously, but he still had no idea how to control this runaway contraption. He tried finding the clutch. However he tilted too far to left and the bike sped off in that direction.

Ran thought he heard someone yelling his name. He squinted. The clouds were obscuring whatever was in front of... his heart skipped another beat. He swerved to the right at the last second. The back wheel scrapped against the hull of the airship. The sound of metal scrapping against metal set his teeth on edge. He drew his legs closer to his body as he felt the hot sparks kiss his cheek and nose. The friction caused the bike to come to stop. It wobbled violently before falling flat on its side once more. The bottom of the bike was kissing the side of the airship. The poor illustrator kept very still till the ringing in his ears subsided. Occasionally he leaned in the opposite direction so that he won’t slip off the vehicle. When everything was quiet again, he craned his head up, and he smiled. There were two familiar faces. One of them was Toby! If he didn’t remember wrongly the orange haired girl had to be Riley. Ace was the red head.

“Hey Riley, Toby! Can you give me a hand? Not sure if it’s too late to save … her.”

A girl bounced down the streets towards the grand building that was the museum, heavy leather messenger bag bumping against her hip with every skip and basket of large, star-shaped fruits grasped in one hand. It had been a good day at the market dealing wares- it was too bad the day had to be cut short with the arrival of the humans, but she was getting paid pretty well for doing a bit of tour guide work so she wasn't complaining. Not to mention she'd be able to see her favorite sniper of all times! She hadn't had time to bring him lunch the past few days; not to mention he was busy with drills and other things. Hopefully he wasn't sleeping on the job or he might get in trouble again.

"Hey there, Jrai!"

She waved to the guard at the entrance to the museum, smiling as he gave a small salute back. She knew most of the guards by name since she hung around the barracks so much, and although there were a few who disliked her and/or tried to hide their wallets whenever they saw her (which was quite rude, really. She wasn't a thief, it was their own fault if they decided to buy something they didn't need while being spurred by her amazing awesome merchant persuasion skills) the rest were very nice. Like Jrai.

It wasn't too hard finding where Est was, and sure enough he was there, slumped on a chair with his hat over his eyes. She shook her head with a laugh, creeping closer and placing on of the star shaped fruits on his lap. He didn't seem to notice so she dropped another one. Luckily she had more than enough to cover the soldier's lap in fruits. She hadn't even needed to pay a single star for them since she had happened upon a desperate fruit vendor on his way to the market with a broken stabilizer on his wagon. Perhaps an entire basket was a bit much to ask for in exchange for a new gear she had on hand, but business was business.

Est didn't seem to want to wake up, so Breeze just sighed and plucked off his hat off of his blond hair, putting it on her own head and poked his cheeks with a huff. "I know you're awake, stop ignoring meeeee."

The boy chuckled as Lesley ruffled his already messy hair and made clicking sounds of his own. Toby turned around and watched with curiosity as Inadi began to practice with his spear. He tried to imagine himself using a weapon with such finesse but he couldn't. Well, he could imagine it, but it just felt weird. He briefly recalled when he first met the group, they all had their own weapons or staffs. Toby had yet to even touch a sword, at least not a real one. Hopefully that wasn't a bad thing, the city of Cogs and Gears felt peaceful and safe anyways. However, the boy was glad somebody like Inadi was with the group. Even though he was a little too mature for his liking, but maybe that was a good thing.

“Hey Gramps! Since the stage is all set, why don’t show us some of your dance moves?” Jasper proposed. Toby's eyes shot open with delight at the idea. Apparently while the group was wrestling Charles, Niran managed to win a dance competition. The boy was eager to see how he had done it, but that still had yet to happen. "I think that's the best idea i've heard all day, I want to watch Gramps dance!" Toby declared. Soon enough his friend was convinced and began to dance away. "Go Ran! Go Ran! Do the running man Ran, do the running man Ran!" Toby chanted as he clapped in unison with the the syllables in his song. The way his friend moved with confidence and satisfaction, there as no mistake that these were the moves of a dance competition winner. He certainly earned every star.

"Now those moves are impressive," Toby turned his attention to their guide, along with Harper and Leila that followed behind. The moment Toby's eyes laid on the parachutes his stomach jumped with excitement. He already knew what Japhet was about to say but still wanted to hear the nobody say it so bad, just to make sure. "We've reached the port, guys. You'll be jumping off the ship, so put these on. They're really simple to use and I'll be heading down with you, so don't worry."

"YES!" Toby shouted, clenching his fists. He quickly approached the nobodies tiny robot friend and grabbed his own parachute. "Thank you!" he exclaimed, and looked to Japhet for instructions. It wasn't as complicated as he anticipated, activating the chute merely required one to pull on the string. In almost a carefree manner, Japhet leaped off the railing and into the city. The boy approached the side of the airship, grabbing the railing as he looked overboard in awe at their guides courage. "I wonder if he gets to do this everyday,"

"Damn, now that is amazing, so...who wants to go first? Ace? Toby? Anyone? I dare you to go ahead."

"Well, we can't keep the troops waiting. Gosh...w-we're really high up, aren't we?" Toby eagerly began to strap on the parachute as Ace quickly accepted Riley's dare. The boy wanted to beat Ace to the punch and leap overboard without warning, racing her to the bottom. However the sound of Harper's screams indicated he was the first to...'volunteer'

"No fair!" Toby shouted. "That doesn't count, Riley pushed him off." Ace suggested that they jump in pairs, which sounded like a fun idea. The others began to leap off one after the other, chasing Japhet into the city of Cogs and Gears. Looking over the railing, Toby was reminded once more this was the first time he had ever taken flight in the air. It was only natural he felt nervous about leaping off of the airship, it was difficult even for him to imagine that they would soon be on the ground within a matter of minutes. He looked to Riley as he tightened the straps on his parachute. "So uh, this may surprise you, but i've never done this before, and i'm willing to bet a hundred stars you haven't either." The boy finished strapping on the parachute and climbed onto the railing, balancing himself as he extended his hand towards Riley with a confident smile.

Inadi watched as Ran performed his moves for everyone and laughed a bit at some of the others. Overall the show was quite impressive. At least compared to anything Inadi could do. The spear holding boy could at times barely perform a classic prom dance where you just hold the girl's hips and sway back and forth. Doing all that leaning and everything seemed well beyond his own personal grasp. While everyone gave the man props it seemed as though Harper came out holding bags of some kind.

Of course it wouldn't be as simple as just landing the ship and hopping over the railing. Now they were all expected to just fall over and hope for the best as they began falling to either a landing pad or imminent doom. The whole thing reeked of bad news. Then again it was a smell that Inadi had gotten used to at this point. A sigh escaped his throat and he took one of the parachutes on his back with a bit of a frustrated tone. Looking over to Jasper, he had a feeling she would be a little more iffy on the idea of jumping off of the ship. While everyone else got excited for the adventure, Inadi took an extra chute and took it over to Jasper.

He gave her a quick smile and asked her to turn around with his finger, making a small circle to give her the hint. Once she did he lifted her braid and began pulling off the smaller backpack that was still on her shoulders. “I've never done sky diving before, but I imagine it would be better with one of these things on properly.” Inadi joked as he referenced the parachute he began placing on the girl. Once the straps were set on her shoulders he passed the teddy bear back to the girl. Jasper was a brave girl, but at times she needed coaxing into an idea. This one definitely seemed like one that would take some convincing. Inadi figured it should be him doing the reassuring if anyone was going to do it. After all, like Ace had said earlier, she was his girlfriend now.

Putting on his own chute he walked back to the railing with Harper and the others. Right as he got there Harper decided to take the lead on the dive, thought he wasn't sure if it was by choice or accident. Either way it seemed he enjoyed the feeling of the wind. Ace began spouting off pairs for each and everyone to use while diving. She threw him and Jasper together which made a small blush appear on his face, but the chuckle he let out was far more noticeable. Ace then took Leila and began saluted the group as she fell and then went into what Inadi could only describe as theatrics. Shaking his head he shouted over the railing at the red head. “Don't spin too quickly there Ace! I'd hate to see you get dizzy and pull the wrong string on your chute before I get down there!” He joked as he laughed to himself.

Lesley shortly after followed with Ran in grip and jumped off. Watching the two disappear into the clouds below seemed frightening at first glance, yet also strangely majestic a the same time. Watching Toby still get his gear on, Inadi walked over to him and gave him a quick tap on the shoulder with the back end of his spear, the blade pointing back at the wielder. “Don't take too much time getting ready for the jump. I would think the longer you take, the more fear gets a hold of you,” He tried telling the boy with confidence to try and boost his cautious spirit. He then gave a quick look at Riley and began chuckled. “Besides, I'm sure that one wants nothing more than to get down to the city and start planning out some kind of report on how everything works there.” He joked as he went back to the railing.

He began planning out his drop with Jasper with a few details in mind. Or rather just one detail. His spear. It would be impossible to sky dive with it just hanging over his head. It would potentially throw him way off course and put he and Jasper at risk. Looking at the hook of the blade he got an idea. Pointing the spear head downwards, Inadi placed his foot in the groove and began seeing how it would fit. Luckily the blade wasn't sharp enough to cut straight through his shoe and it fit it perfectly as well. It would be like sliding down a fireman's pole that went on for a little longer than he would have liked personally. Shrugging at the thought, he looked back to Jasper and gave her a nod. “Ready when you are Jasper,” He told her with a reassuring smile on his face. “I'll make sure we get down there as safe as a feather.” The frame faced boy had no idea what he was doing or if his idea would work, but in the end a stupid plan was better than no plan at all. He just hoped that nothing would fly by his face once they broke the cloud cover. Though the others wouldn't be able to sense his concerns as he continued wearing the sincere smile he still had.

”It’s so...so...amazing.”

Leila listened to Harper and the Nobody talk about Nowhere and Home.

“Insufficient.” The world slipped through her lips as her sight remain locked on something far away through the window. Only later did she turn to look at Harper and utter the entire sentence:

“Language is not enough.” She said as she bit her lip, “Words are not enough. I can’t… ...can’t possibly explain-” she paused a bit to select the appropriate term, only to change her mind: “-the human realm. Home.”

Home.

During her stay in Nowhere this thought seemed to have only ever been attacking her more and more frequently. The memory of her room, the library, her old bed and blankets. The morning tea, the few people around her. The thoughts stir up a series of uncomfortable connotations she never was sure how to deal with. She once considered to force herself to stop thinking about it for a while, but the same topic kept being brought up. And then, every time she remembered, she would be grateful she still did. She supposed that it was worth it, then.

She realized her expression blurring out into a unfocused gaze, and quickly replaced it with a rather awkward smile towards Harper and the captain.

Uh?

Leila then stumbled a few steps backwards upon feeling something cold bump into her leg. The robot’s feet swiveled about aimlessly, failing to touch the group; its arms flailing and beeping sounds continuously being produced in protest.

“Eeeeh!” She let out a delighted gasp and stepped backwards so that she didn’t get into the way of the flailing legs. That robot is so cute, she thought to herself. Here, let me help you up...uh….umph.

She let go of the robot and stood back up, ruffling her hair in frustration. The robot was made of metal after all and was much heavier than she expected it to be. She could but smile bitterly, shooting a pleading glare towards the Nobody, hoping that he would take the cue and help the poor robot beeping helplessly on the ground.

Leila narrowly escaped being kocked over by the backpack when she reacted and caught it, stumbling slightly in the process.

"Wait...what? We're jumping?"

"It sounds like the human realm is worth fighting for, good luck."

“Your world, too.” She responded, unsure how much of it was only out of politeness. “It’s a great place.”

She still wasn’t sure about how to properly do the compliment thing, so she was looking away from the Nobody’s eyes and at the backpack as she spoke. She flipped it around and observed a few tags and lines and rings to pull on, much like one would find back home on a…

...parachute?

We’re what?

* * * * *

That feeling you get when you’re looking down from a height, that urge to jump - that’s one thing. Actually carrying a parachute and stepping out into the air is another all by its own.

Okay, here it goes. Leila felt a bit silly saying that to herself, but she decided she needed it. The winds high up were strong and on the deck she found herself struggling just to keep her eyes open, but as long as she could see the ground below she knew she would need to get something to distract herself from figuring out how fast she’s going to hit the ground if the parachute didn’t open.

Three,

She breathed deeply, taking a step forward. It wasn’t as bad as she imagine.

Two,

She saw Ace approaching her from behind at the edge of her sight, and that diverted her attention from her counting a bit.

...eighty-one metres per second.

ugh.

"Come on Leila! We can jump together!"

“No wait don’t - “

Yet Ace already took her hand and ran forwards, forcing her to push herself in the direction that would avoid her feet being caught onto the railings - into the air.

The wind was tickling at first, although it grew swiftly until it almost hurt being hit by it in the face as she accelerated into the fall. She laughed as the untidied collar of her shirt flapped against her neck, and her voice was stretched by and then dissipated into the winds. She saw Ace gleefully flippin in circles in the air, her seeming to be yelling something as well, although Leila couldn’t hear it. She felt like yelling too as she fell. Sing, almost - she remembered a couple of songs with lyrics about flying - but then again, of course, she didn’t sing. She ended up continuing to produce laughter and giggles as she felt the air flow across her skin.

She would have been too absorbed to remember opening her chute if it wasn’t for her noticing Ace suddenly shooting upwards. Leila expended a couple of seconds fiddling around before getting a firm grasp on the right line and pulling it hard.

The abrupt jerk from the straps of the backpack were nearly choking, but it soon eased into a smooth, controlled float downwards. The view was excellent from up there, and Leila took her time taking it in. She saw Ace some distance away, above, in her own fall dampened by the parachute. Below them was the land, the marvelous buildings and towers, and the sun glared from behind the silhouette that was the distant skyline of the City of Cogs and Gears.

“Your world too, Nowhere.” She whispered to herself in the air, as if again in reply to the Nobody's notion about the human realm. “your world too.”