Beloved Weapon: Part 2 (Legendseekers, MOX-994)

The very next morning, just at the crack of dawn, Troia arrived at the doorstep of Limekiln’s shop; she rang the bell, and Limekiln quickly opened the door, allowing her to step inside. 

It felt nice to smell the scent of burning coal and feel the heat of the fire this far away from their furnaces, and both of Pantalaimon’s Ophistles, Hermes and Mercury peeked out from underneath her scout’s cloak to soak in the warmth of the room. Spearbie, typically stoic, seemed to visibly relax somewhat from the presence of Limekiln. Troia felt her muscles

Limekiln shut the door, giving Troia a warm smile as they guided her over to one of their workbenches. Something small lay in the center of the table with a cloth draped over it. They beckoned for Troia to take a closer look. “Hope you slept well throughout the night. I finished these two beauties right up as fast as my Hammersby could allow me.” They chuckled. “Go on, take off the cloth slowly."

Troia nodded, and with her horns glowing from her magic, she cast a levitational spell to lift and swept the cloth away from the table to reveal what laid underneath.

A keybie lay on the table, glittering; along with a Macebie and an Axebie. Troia stepped away, taken aback.

“... You were able to make this much for me..? I only expected one enchanted weapon, but not two…” she breathed. It was difficult for her to think of how to verbalize her thanks and gratitude in that moment, so fascinated was she by her weapons. 

Limekiln laughed- they didn’t mind. It was a warm one that boomed and echoed throughout their shop; Hermes and Mercury immediately ducked back into Troia’s cloak from the sudden sound. 

“Your Lunewyrm plush had enough thought and care put into it that there was enough love for two,” they said.  “You know, very rarely, I’ve had some customers say that their ‘bies sometimes pause to look at the things that they were once made of, before I brought them to life. I like to think that somehow, subconsciously, they remember what they once were. Just my hunch- I’ve had yet to get a ‘bie to tell me that straight out of it’s own mouth. Your Axbie and Macebie may be hard-shelled softies, I’m sure.”

Spearbie floated up to the enchanted weapons to peer at them curiously. It gently whistled a quiet ‘swhh’ to awaken the other enchanted weapons. One by one, Axebie, then Macebie, awoke; they blinked groggily for the first time in their lives to look out at the world, and magically lifted themselves up to look at their surroundings- then Limekiln- then Troia. Both Mercury and Hermes flew out of Troia’s cloak to observe the newly created enchanted weapons, curious about their new companions of the day.

Only Keybie did not respond to Spearbie’s call. It’s eyes remained shut, as if still dormant.

Troia tried to tap Keybie, softly, with the tip of her tail’s stinger. The metal rang sharply; but it did not awaken or respond to her touch. Troia tried again, and the result was the same. Even Axebie and Macebie exchanged glances between each other, before each one tapped Keybie with the butt of their handles. Spearbie followed suit, lightly poking Keybie with the tip of it’s spearhead.

Nothing happened. 

Keybie’s metal glinted under the warmth of the candlelight, but still it did not respond to the touch or sound of anyone. Hermes and Mercury eyed Keybie curiously at first, but upon a closer look, they hesitated, and did not touch it.

Troia’s ears slowly flattened on her head, perplexed. “Why isn’t it waking?”

“That golden scale of your friend’s was a very strange thing… fashioning Keybie from it was far from easy.” Limekiln tilted their head ever so slightly. “But Keybie is complete. There’s nothing wrong with it’s construction; I made sure of that. All I can advise is that tou’ll need to do everything you can to coax keybie awake by showing it your care, trust, and love. Perhaps, only then, it will respond.” 

Their tail pointed to Axebie and Macebie. “Those two, however, are going to need some quality time with you to get used to you.

Spearbie communicated to Axebie and Macebie with it’s quiet ‘swhh’s’; the both of their eyes flickered over to Troia. Troia couldn’t make out their expressions, and had difficulty parsing out Spearbie’s words; but Axebie and Macebie seemed to understand something that she could not. Hermes and Mercury flew over to Axbie and Macebie as well, silently flicking their tongues as if to communicate with the newly created enchanted weapons. The gemstones on their cheeks glowed, as if to signal something.

Axebie and Macebie both then faced Troia, and drifted over to her side. She looked at the both of them, slowly lashing her tail; she was unsure of what to say to them.

“Do you know what they just talked about?" Troia asked Limekiln. “Spearbie has never spoken much to me… I haven’t learned everything it can say yet.”

“Spearbie was talking about it’s ownership under you,  and the reason why they were all created. I reckon the Ophistles were explaining what they'd just been through, and the situation with Lunerest as a whole, is my guess,” Limekiln explained. “Under normal circumstances, when the world’s at peace, most ‘bies have a rough start with their owners and go through a disobedient phase. Think of a xynlet that’s just learning to mind their manners and can’t quite control their outbursts yet. But because of Spearbie’s words- not to mention the circumstances that brought them into creation- they already have an inkling of how crucial it’ll be to cooperate with you.” 

Speabie swiveled around to face Troia; and it bobbed the tip of it’s spear, almost as if to nod in agreement to Limekiln’s words.

Limekiln continued: “You’ll still have to prove your devotion and care for these two just as much as you have with Spearbie to fully gain their trust, of course. But, I think these two won’t want to give you hell on earth right now, knowing what exactly they were made for and what’ll happen to them- and you- potentially even Lunerest itself- if they can’t cooperate…”

Before they made their way to the door, beckoning for Troia “I hate to push you out early, but I need to get to work on finishing the rest of my ‘bies for my clients. Don’t forget Keybie now.” Their horns glowed, and Keybie did too from their magic; they brought it over to Troia and slipped Keybie within her pocket. It felt unusually heavy within- and unnaturally warm, almost hot, within it. Troia shifted, slightly uncomfortably.

Limekiln opened the door, motioning for Troia to exit. She stepped outside, and turned to face them one last time.

“Thanks, for everything.” she said, quietly. 

“It’s nothing,” Limekiln said.” Bring it to your friend as quickly as possible- or whenever the time is right-  but remember…,” they cautioned. Their face, once full of warmth, became serious for a moment. “Remember how important it is to prove to yourself to Keybie that you’re worthy of it’s trust. You can’t force an enchanted weapon to do something against it’s will; most ‘bies will make sure they shatter themselves to pieces before they ever cave in to something they can’t bear to do... and I can’t predict what Keybie will do if it wants to disobey it’s owner.”

Troia nodded. “I understand.” She turned away, with all of her enchanted weapons in tow to Valorise to plan what to do next.

Keybie’s heat, though it was dormant, pulsed as if it were an unnaturally warm heart beating in the pocket of her scout cloak. Hermes and Mercury, which relied on warmth, slithered as far away as they could from it by nestling in the opposite side of Troia’s cloak and back; it was almost as if they sensed something was wrong with it. She couldn’t comfort them; not even she knew what Keybie would be like when it awakened.

Troia wondered if it was dreaming- or if it perhaps longed to see Yang, even if they had never met before...