Chapter 349 - To the Moon

The playful swirl of a brush on canvas or the joyful hum of a cheery melody – Cornelius found things that could tickle the senses so much to be pure… ‘magic’. She looked upon the scenery with avid eyes. To many, it was just the ruins of mankind, failures that had been left to rot. But for Cornelius, there was a certain beauty to it.

She pulled out a sketchpad and hummed, ignoring the fact that she was teetering on the edge of a metal beam that looked hardly sturdy. But inspiration waited for no one, so a charcoal pencil was pulled out and lines quickly formed on paper.

Within minutes, the quaint silence of a land gone unnoticed had been captured by a single person. Enough so that the remainder was committed to memory.

Cornelius hopped off the beam, eyeing as the push-off jostled it from the pile but left it standing regardless. Thankfully, she had not lost her watch post. She would be back later.

But then, a large shadow crossed over her, catching her attention as her gaze shot up. Something sailed right above, large enough to cast a moment of darkness. Before Cornelius’s eyes could adjust, the figure zipped from point to point, stopping only briefly to reveal its form.

“I-Is that a witch hat?”

Cornelius had read about them in old books that she unearthed, bits and pieces of human culture lost under the ruins. Just like in the stories, a girl in a large, floppy hat glided across the sky, sitting upon some long stick.

She finally stopped in front of one pile, staring avidly at something before bending over to retrieve it. Curious, Cornelius hopped over to sneak a peek.

Blue locks of hair spilled out messily under the hat, which seemed not big enough to contain it all. But as the girl turned around, Cornelius couldn’t help but raise a brow at how marred with filth the girl was. Streaks of dust and grim stood out on a faded green dress.

As the girl stood up from the pile, she brandished her finding in the air triumphantly. Like a child having found her favorite toy in the refuse, her arms and front had a fresh dusting of filth. She looked down and simply brushed at it, the excess tumbling off into a cloud.

She looked dirtier than a homeless person scavenging for scraps. Despite that, a hum came from her while she was captivated by the object in her hand. The tune was rough, hardly worth listening to. The kind that made one want to interrupt before it dragged on too far.

“Hey you! What are you doing out here?” Cornelius yelled out, startling the girl, who immediately fetched her broomstick and wielded it like a staff.

Walking forward, Cornelius decided that she was rather harmless. The innocence of those green eyes behind spectacles spoke of an earnest girl, one which held a similar passion as Cornelius’s.

“While there’s no one around to stop you, fumbling around with lost tech from the past can be dangerous.”

Cornelius eyed the box-like contraption that was in the girl’s arms. It looked complicated, way beyond the understanding of a simple artist. But the girl acted differently. She held onto it with care, shielding it from any possible harm like it was the most important thing to her. It was the look that Cornelius gave whenever someone tried to see her sketchpad.

“I’m Cornelius. What’s your name?”

Trying again a third time, it seemed like that was finally the charm.

“K-Katalina. And I know what I’m doing, thank you. I prefer not to be bothered.”

“A name to a face. One not so pretty, but only on the account of the layers of filth.”

“Did you call out to me to be mean?”

“Well, no. I was simply interested in what kind of person would dirty themselves to this extent to dig through garbage. I, myself, take a stroll through this area, but I prefer to distance myself from this subject matter of my fancy.”

Katalina eyed the other person up and down, taking note of the spotless outfit that was worn. Cornelius had been careful to traverse the area with light steps, leaving little impact on the scenery before her. There was a natural beauty in things that were left up to fate – or so she believed.

“I don’t have the patience to be delicate, not when goals need to be met.”

Katalina walked past Cornelius, impatience clear as day. Careful not to offend her any further, Cornelius simply trailed behind her. A strange feeling of interest bubbled within her, unsure as to why. And even when Katalina hopped on her staff and sped away, Cornelius found herself running after her before she knew it.

Weaving between the ruined structures, the figure of Katalina floating midair just managed to stay within her sights. After a few minutes, the trace became too small, buzzing out of sight like a fly. She pushed on, hoping to find another sign. Just when she thought the strange girl had disappeared, a trail of smoke rose steadily from the distance.

“T-That’s an interesting setup. Are you magical by chance?”

By the time that Cornelius found Katalina again, the girl was bent over a large cauldron, swirling some concoction with a stick. Acting even more like a witch from her stories, Cornelius couldn’t help but ask the obvious question.

Magic didn’t seem practical, not from anyone that she knew. No one could wave a makeshift wand and cast spells, turn piles of dirt into animals, or make brews that did more than make people gag. That was child’s play. An innocence that fed into a creativity that she wished to hold onto.

But for the first time, Cornelius saw someone flying! And upon a broomstick no less! She simply had to know what ‘magic’ this was. She quickly approached the ‘witch’ at work.

“I’m crafting the parts that I need to fix this device. Excuse me, but this requires a bit of concentration.”

Knowing full well not to bother an artisan in the midst of her craft, Cornelius took a seat upon a makeshift bench, a single board held up by tires. She pulled out her sketchpad while eyeing Katalina working her magic, humming the same tune as before. This time, she didn’t care to stop her.

Bits and pieces of random things went in the pot, given a few stirs, and out came shiny parts like they had been synthesized with a purpose. Katalina stared at each one intently before setting them by the dirty box that she picked up before. In between each synthesis, Cornelius watched as Katalina dissected the box before making replacements. It was rather enthralling to see garbage from the ruins being slowly transformed by the small changes, until the object started looking more new than old. Certainly, Cornelius was used to creating something from nothing, but not in this manner.

But the devotion in Katalina’s eyes to her craft inspired her. Before she knew it, a sketch of the ‘witch and her workshop’ spread across the sketchpad. A girl completely absorbed in her own small world was more interesting than any scenery that could be found.

Katalina held up the box that she had restored, bright-eyed and eager. It looked like she had completed what she was doing.

“What is that anyways?” Cornelius called out to her.

But rather than answer, Katalina suddenly glowed with a purple energy, making Cornelius fall back upon the bench.

‘Magic! It does exist!’

She stared as the purplish glow was sucked into the box, seeming to absorb whatever Katalina gave off. And after a few minutes of Cornelius’s tongue hanging out of her mouth, the glowing stopped. Katalina went off to the side and hooked it up to some strange contraption, which proceeded to turn its gears, move pistons up and down, and shine a beam of light forward.

“It’s a mana battery, of course. Supplying mana to a tool continuously is too delicate of a feat for human hands, so a constant output from an external source is necessary.”

“Necessary for what?”

Katalina looked to the sky for a moment, unsure of how to answer. She shook her head for a moment before turning back to Cornelius.

“Do you really want to know? Why I’m out here all the time, covered in filth and working supposedly with ‘magic’?”

Cornelius gulped and nodded. What she had seen was greater than imagination, more creative than art, and enrapturing to the heart. There was something within her that was crying out to learn more.

“Then, how about going to fetch me these parts while you’re in town? I would go myself, but there are quite a few components that seem too much like lost technology, so it’s easier for me to locate them here.”

Katalina jotted down a few lines before handing the slip of paper to Cornelius. Noticing the sketchpad that she had laid out, she added a few more conditions.

“An artist, huh. Perhaps, a little inspiration would help motivate invention. I look forward to seeing what kind of touches that you can impart upon pure functionality.”

Cornelius nodded lightly as she was shooed away, back to town with an agenda that she had somehow been roped into. But it was of little matter. Within a half hour, Cornelius found herself back at the gates leading into town, a hub of human activity that had more or less shunned the creations of old.

This was the only town that she knew of, with tall walls surrounding the whole area. No one came from outside, and no one left. It was the nature of this place, isolated from all else. And for most people that she talked to, any thought of being elsewhere was blasphemy.

Personally, Cornelius believed that they lacked understanding, out of touch with a culture that existed long ago. One would think that mankind learned from history, but they had the tendency of burying it instead when it felt more convenient. If they convinced themselves that they needed nothing else, then there was no changing it.

Mankind reveled in rediscovering themselves over and over again, no matter how often things went back to zero. All Cornelius could do was accept this fact and watch as the beauty of life happened, hoping to capture some of its glamor in her drawings.

She checked her list again and noted that many of the objects were normal things – household items, spare wood and metal, and even, toys that didn’t seem to have much purpose. And on the bottom, a list of food was hastily added, like it was an afterthought.

“A magician has to eat, I suppose.” Cornelius chuckled as she headed into the first store, confident that she could spare some change to dabble in such mysteries. The cloaked man at the counter welcomed her as she looked around, finding everything she needed here. A light smile from underneath his hood could be seen as she lined up the purchases.

The next day, Cornelius was back at the site of the Witch’s Workshop. Once again, Katalina was toiling away at the cauldron, crafting more pieces to repair yet another contraption that she had unearthed from some place.

Cornelius wondered why no one else had bothered to recreate technology from the past, as Katalina made it seem so easy… until she looked closely at the process.

The random knickknacks that she had gathered were tossed into the cauldron along with other scavenged parts. And with time and some stirring, Katalina scooped out shiny new pieces from within.

It seemed impossible for such a haphazard method to yield anything of use, but it happened before her eyes. When she asked to try it once, the mixture exploded on her within minutes, even when told exactly what to do.

“Not so easy, is it? It took me quite some time to understand how to impart mana into the cauldron at a stable rate, breaking down the core components and molding them to fit the image in my mind.”

Still, Cornelius was fascinated by it. The level of control and precision it required – it was nothing short of an artform. And as a fellow creator, she had a deep appreciation of it.

Apparently, mana existed everywhere. It was a matter of whether people recognized its existence. Katalina showed her that objects could become so small that one would lose sight of it, but it still existed. Just like mana in the surroundings. A special kind of focus was required to tap into it, a different outlook upon reality.

But after a week of devoted learning, bringing more items on the list for Katalina every day, Cornelius could feel a trail of magic leave her body. Enamored by seeing it take shape, her mentor brought out her broom again. She tucked it between her legs, patting a spot behind her as an invitation.

Taking a deep breath, Cornelius climbed on as well, holding onto Katalina, who had cleaned herself up a bit today. Within moments, the broom hovered, carrying their legs off the ground. It moved back and forth, flying but low to the ground. It wouldn’t do to invoke a heart attack on a first timer.

“Grasping mana is challenging, but it seems like people forget to try at times. To be happy with what they have instead, rather than explore something that could benefit them in the long run.”

Cornelius felt that statement hit home. She had stopped dreaming as well, at least until she had run into Katalina. She had accepted the beauty of the ruins as it appeared, not what was hidden within. Like many people in town, a complacent life lacking change felt so easy to give into. She thought that such aspirations were something to ‘grow out of’, but now that she experienced its true wonders, ‘magic’ seemed ever more appealing.

“Mana can be molded to achieve nearly anything. What stops us is the will to advance and the daringness to dream.”

Cornelius nodded as they both flew around for a while, lost in the freedom of being able to do something normally impossible. The freedom of magic. Wild and untamed, it could really hurt someone if used unwisely, but Katalina took the time to figure it out all on her own.

And soon, Katalina began to hum again. This time, Cornelius joined her. After spending so much time together, she couldn’t avoid picking up on it.

After some time, they both landed. One thought came to mind.

“Katalina, what drives you to pursue magic so much? What compels you to throw away a normal life in the pursuit of the unpredictable?”

The ‘witch’ looked up to the sky, where she pointed at something round and white. It hung there like a constellation in the sky, but it was far larger than everything else.

“I want to reach that place. A voice keeps telling me to go to the ‘moon’.”