5

 

Over the next month they cleared a path down to Fie’s pool. They constructed ladders where they were need and chiseled out stairs from the rocks, until the descending street was easily reached. The tunneled street was supported, to prevent any cave-ins. They placed pedestals at key intersections, equipping them with glow-orbs and signs that would direct one in the correct direction.

Their sleeping quarters were moved down to a large dwelling on the third level. Zomera and Angelous each had their own room now, furnished with self powered lamps and a bed for Zomera and hammock for Angelous. They also built work tables into a common room in their new dwelling, transferring all their tools to the new location. It would be too much work to transfer all of their catalogued devices from the main storage chamber, so they took only the important ones and their stock of glow-orbs down to their dwelling. They also stole a few armchairs and a small table from Safeltsa merchants to furnish the room.

The house was a very different setting for their work. Zomera had grown accustomed to the large open areas of the storage facility, and the use of actual rooms seemed something out of her distant past. The house was relatively large, with molded wooden flooring that they worked to replace. The house had two stories, connected to each other by a now inoperable moving stairwell. Angelous dismissed it as a lost cause and instead of repairing it, they built their own reinforced stairwell on top of the already existing one.

The lower level of the house had four rooms. Two were relatively small, located nearly at opposite ends of the house, and once (but no longer) separated from the rest of the house by doors. The other two rooms were relatively large. The smaller one was separated into two sections by a long archway. The largest room connected the three other rooms, and led to the outside of the house as well. This was where they set up their workspace.

When they were done with their initial work, they went to fetch Fie. She had improved in her walking dramatically since they had ceased giving her lessons. She could now efficiently run as well as walk, though when Zomera tried to teach Fie to skip, she stumbled and fell.

Fie made her way down to the new home without too much fuss; she had never used a ladder before so that was a challenging experience and the stairs were not her forte either. When she arrived, she found a stock of glow-orbs already piled by the pool for her, along with a lamp. Zomera and Angelous had not known how Fie was used to sleeping so they had nothing set up. She told them she would simply need something to cover the stalagmites at the bottom of the pool and she would sleep fine. Instead, Angelous rigged up a hammock that could be lowered into the water, and Fie was pleased.

After Fie’s transfer the three rarely left the ruins, except to go to town to get more supplies and food, and even then they would bring back as much food as was possible to carry, to belay later trips. Zomera was usually the one who went on these trips, because sometimes she would visit her mother while she was in town. It was much faster going to town with the boat, and she had convinced Angelous once again to keep it, since it was rarely used, carried so much more supplies than just a bag, and it decreased the journey’s time by nearly half. Because it was now a permanent asset, Zomera had even bought the boat a proper anchor.

Fie proved to be very helpful. Though she was slow to learn the language of the books, or the way the machines worked, she took over the laboring jobs. She sorted the devices, carried the heavier machines to where they needed to be, fished in the sea when they were low on food, and ran errands. Angelous was even able to teach her to take proper notes on the caves and buildings of Tydatri, and Fie would explore the ruins and bring back sketches and charts for him to map. She was very muscular when she had moved there, and became even more so as her time at the ruins progressed. Her form became more rippled with muscle and more curved. She also started to stay out of her pool of water for longer and longer periods of time, building up her ability to use her lungs efficiently.

The three of them made a very efficient and cooperative team. They got much done over the course of the next few years. Their lives were full and fruitful, happy in each other’s company. They became close friends, each able to read the others like a book. Angelous attributed this to the extensive card games they engaged in. It wasn’t long before their restless souls began to long for something more, something other than the life of the ruins. Neither Fie nor Angelous knew what else they could hope for, but Zomera knew, and she formed her plans.