Outsider

You believe I wish to harm her. You are wrong. I wish to help her.

Only by elucidating where her—where all your pain lies at its source, can I better assist you in excising the problem point, is that not so?

As with you. You voluntarily became one of us, wishing to melt into the ocean true. Once you have completed this mission, your sordid nature will achieve purification. This is the ocean's charity to you.

And in the end, charity alike will be extended to all your old relations. So long as they alike can relinquish their narrow views of a past enmity.

To reunite you, that is the first step. To fathom you, that is the second step. And come the end, you will fathom us too.

......

If you are able to reduce the nonsense by a measure, we may cooperate so much more harmoniously.

I can also speak of things that will make you happy. Your old relation—the lucid one, she is already here.

Skadi?

She is not here.

Naturally, she is not. Without my invitation, none may enter this place.

She's entered the city. You know that.

You have expressed surprise. That is very interesting. There is no sound in this city that I do not hear.

And He admires all I do, has granted me the power, given my life further reach. My perception, my wit, all are no longer bound by the flesh you see before you.

I am approaching perfection. I will accept your grudges.

Hmph.

As for your old relation, now—her arrival was sooner than anticipated.

'Abyssal Hunters are bound by blood.'

She has no inkling of what awaits her. All you had to do was take the other away, and she has given chase here, not having once rested.

Truly a camaraderie to make one gasp. Does she know the state of you nowadays? What will she do when she confronts a traitor? Will she trust in your blood binding, old comrades rekindled, or will a blade pierce true through your body?

I have great expectations.

(She turns to leave.)

You needn't hurry to find her. You've done very well. You have brought this one back to where she should remain, and led another into the city.

He will be very pleased.

He?

You need not know.

We simply wait now. We wait until the time comes, and naturally, you may find your old relation then, and pass on to her our invitation.

She is not sure to come.

She will come. She will come seeking me herself.

You're back again!

We live in the best building in the whole north area. Look, this door still closes. A door that shuts closed is one of your best friends on a rainy day.

People are nearby. Two of them.

They're, well, they're usually here.

One-hundred-and-thirty, one-hundred-and-thirty-one, one-hundred-and-thirty-two...

Hi, Brick, are you doing good today?

......

One, two, three...

I'm sorry!

Poor guy, now he has to start over again. He's always sitting here, counting all the bricks in the street. Don't tell him I said, but each day's count isn't much like the last.

And also, that one's Stonecolumn. He likes making his way all around the street pillars. When it's all dark and rainy he doesn't come out. He's a little old, and his legs start hurting when he gets wet.

You can just ignore them, and they'll ignore you too, just like they ignore me.

Come in, singer. Let me give you an official introduction. In here is my home.

......

......

Hi, Sheetmetal. Hi, Drywall. You're awake!

(Strokes case)

Ouch...

Hey, Woodframe. You brought this outside person into the house again.

She's not bad.

She's from the outside.

Bench has taken a decent liking to her, haven't you, Bench?

Wgh... aogh...

Don't—Don't bite! You're going to chew the singer's skirt apart!

*cough*.

...Not that it'll come apart.

It's all slobbery again. That's not very pretty.

Aogh, au-auwgh...

This rascal really has taken a shining to you, singer.

......

You see? Bench wants her to stay too.

You are scheming something. Do not think, I do not know.

Er...

This will not, end well.

I'm not, okay, I don't have any plans at all.

What is the phrase...? Suit yourself.

The rules, may not be broken.

Whether by you, or by her.

I will be watching.

We shall go.

Phew... they finally left.

Singer, don't be afraid. This is just the kind of person Sheetmetal is. He may seem very frightful, but he won't really do anything to us.

Oh?

Okay, I know you're not afraid. Since you're so much more powerful than them.

I just wanted to say, if he really tried something—*snort*—I wouldn't be scared of him either.

Oh.

*Sigh*.

You're sighing.

This barrel's empty. So is the tray.

Let me just think... maybe there's still some food under the bed.

Is this the bed?

It is. Does it seem very odd? Were the beds in your home not metal?

I don't mind too much.

You can find wooden beds in some houses, too. Wood's surprisingly useful. Wood can burn, and make houses brighter and warmer at once. There are some times if you fall ill here when the winters won't be kind to you.

Eh-heh—look, this is my treasure box. I filled it a touch full when I woke up this morning.

Help me for a moment here, get this dry seagrass out of my sight. No, don't throw it on the floor. Even if we can't eat it, we can still pad out the bed with it.

You have a lot.

That's right. I hide everything useful inside here.

Take a look at this, they're clothes I'm sewing right now. I sharpened up a shell into a needle recently, and it's so much better to use than all those years-old ones.

I'm fairly short of material. Still need to go searching properly through the city south. Maybe there'll be some buried so deep that nobody's taken it yet.

It'll be getting cold soon, so I need to hurry up.

......

No, don't you dare, Bench, you can't touch these clothes! These are for Grandma Petra. Her cough just keeps getting worse.

......

Not this either! You let go!

Woodframe.

I've told you how many times? It's not Woodframe, it's Pictureframe!

Also, you can't even eat this! There's no point in you even having it!

Woodframe... Pictureframe?

You heard them calling me that?

I only know you as Anita.

I picked Anita for myself... I heard it in one of Grandma Petra's stories. She was a girl just like you, she could really sing. It sounds much nicer than Woodframe, doesn't it?

Most of us here have no names. Whatever came to mind first is what we use. Brick's always counting bricks, Sheetmetal has a sheetmetal fence running all around his house.

They call me Woodframe. Because underneath this pictureframe is where Grandma Petra found me.

You mentioned your own mother before.

She didn't give me up to anyone else. Brave, she was. When I was born, there were no children here. Children couldn't survive.

Those years, nobody dared go against Grandma Petra... she gave me a share of food. Don't let her poor health now fool you, she's this city's most fearsome person by far.

Oh?

Even Sheetmetal fears her.

Oh.

Things are much better now. That priest taught us how to survive. Just look at Bench, and those children over there. I believe in this place of ours becoming a lively one someday.

Aaah... ah...

So long as you don't keep taking what's mine. You're a good kid still, aren't you, Bench?

It doesn't matter if anything else gets taken away. Every night when I go to sleep, I hide this box away. They wouldn't know how to find it.

Ugh, we don't really go 'yours' or 'mine' here. I understand hiding things is bad. Singer, you won't go telling anyone else, will you? You're not interested in my things to boot.

Do you trust in me?

You're a guest. Grandma Petra taught me that we should properly receive guests.

There it is, I knew it was there. Look, there's still one fin left.

This odor...

It's half a month old. Still quite fresh as fish go.

Pull it apart, and this half... is for Bench. Here, Bench, food for you here!

Ah... aaah... (He swallows it.)

Alright, and this half is for you. Leave the bones when you're done eating. I can boil some soup with them after.

I can go to find food too.

But the day still hasn't come! If you went out now, you probably couldn't find anything to eat.

Can't say until you try.

Huh?

She talks, and suddenly she's gone. Seriously, how odd she is!

Still following.

The shore. She has gone to the shore.

Yes, Sheetmetal, your thinking is correct. She wants to enter the sea. She intends to set into it.

The time, is not yet come.

The priest spoke so. The tide must flood and ebb one-hundred times, before we are permitted, to enter the sea.

Sheetmetal, we cannot come here. The shore, does not permit us to.

That is meaningless. We will, block her.

Block her? As if we could defeat her?

The priest spoke, we must wait one hundred times, before we may go. It is only, the ninety-ninth time now.

She will obtain nothing at all. The shore today, has nothing at all.

So what is she looking for?

Sheetmetal, it is bitterly cold here, I am hungry, we cannot come here, and you should not ask.

Is there anything in the sea?

I do not know.

Even if you knew, what then?

I do not know. Sheetmetal, what you say, I do not know any of. I do not understand.

Where is the furthest we have traveled, in the past?

The westernmost of the west. A long time ago. In those days, we were, no taller than this. We could still, collect food in the town.

Borderline. We do not often, say this word. We have seen, this city's, edge.

That was you, Sheetmetal, not we.

At that time, I was dizzy with hunger.

You said, you wanted to go further still. You wanted, to push your luck.

It was to try my luck.

Hmph. You never could, make any sense. The priest gave you such years of teaching. You never could learn.

Heh-heh, Sheetmetal, you make. Sense of me.

You said so, at that time too.

You have always trusted me. You let me take the can you kept. I traveled another day.

And then you came back.

Yes, I came back.

You ate nothing, for several days after. I thought, you wanted to starve yourself to death.

I thought of it. But what meaning, would starving myself have?

After all, we will all perish come not too long.

You are giving me a shock. You said this back then too. I do not know what you are talking about.

Afterward... the priest came. It was only when he came, that I felt a change. We all changed.

The priest, has a good life. He says we can have one. What he says is true.

It is true. Because... it is the truth. He let us see it.

Because of the priest, I survived. We all survived. That is, very good.

That line, no one can cross.

Is that line, the seawater line?

All lines. Just like the traps Woodframe makes. They stop, even outsiders.

We cannot exit either. That is for the best.

Sheetmetal... your leg, is going to meet the water!

Water... yes. I shall not cross.

Even if I crossed over... crossed over, there may well be nothing there at all.

Phew... Sheetmetal, you finally stopped walking. You scared me just now.

Do not be like that, asking so many questions. You are like Woodframe, when you always ask. She was always strange. The priest said too that something is wrong about her, did he not?

Questioning... cannot help us.

Only answers have any meaning.

You impress me so, Sheetmetal. You are the only one who remembers, the priest's words as strongly.

......

Look, she has not stopped walking along the shore.

Sheetmetal, where are you going? Are you going to follow too? No, that is not right, we may not, and cannot follow her!

Even I know, we cannot defeat her. We have no way to drive her out.

She cannot return now.

That... That is a very good thing for us.

I want the big case she has. There is surely much to eat inside.

The case is not here. She took it.

There is only this... this, she placed it on the rocks. I do not know what this is.

She is always holding it. It should be something good, no?

May I... May I try a bite, Sheetmetal? I am so very hungry.

(Plink-plunk)

What—What is this? I have never heard a sound like this before.

(Plink-plunk, plink-plunk)

Stop it quickly, Sheetmetal, this sound is making my stomach and teeth shake without end. If you are fond of holding it then hold it. I am going back after all.

No meaning. This also has no meaning.

This useless thing. It should be left on the ground. To rot.

The whole way, I thought it was somebody else following me.

You—You returned! How were you able? Nobody who goes to, the shore at this time, will return.

You want to enter the sea.

I'm just taking a walk around the area.

Is there anything in the sea?

There's nothing at all.

That cannot be.

You have turned stranger and stranger, Sheetmetal. You are still asking these questions I do not understand. Did we not come here to block her?

Now she is heading back. We may go back.

You saw it. You know.

Sheetmetal, you are shaking. Have you become ill?

......

Don't come near.

And what if I do? Will you beat us so we are lying on the floor, like before?

......

There is something in the sea, correct?

Don't move.

Aaaaagh—

Drywall!

This stone... her movements, are truly fast.

Was that a sound from my mouth? Sheetmetal, I made a sound. My heart is beating wild. Have I become ill too?

I believe, your head will explode with a bang. Just like a shell smashed open, there will be something shining bright white inside.

Will I die then?

We will know the next time we try. What has fallen apart now is something else. I have never seen a thing like this before.

Why can it... still move?!

Run. Head back to the city. Quickly.

—Remember to leave my harp here.