“LOOK! LOOK!” shouts Alleluia, running over to a tree and pointing at a small creature glued to the side of it. The clockwork woman clenches her hands before herself, bobbing up and down on her feet.

Canta blinks, watching her run around like an excited child through the forest. She’s always sprinting ten steps ahead of him and then pointing out the next thing that she wants him to see. It started with the trees. Then the rocks. Now they’ve moved on to the things that are on the trees and the rocks. Canta stares up at the lazy eye that looks down his way from the middle of the large tree.

“It’s just a lizard,” he says half-heartedly, but still somewhat amused at her sudden turn of character. Maybe the fresh air really is just what she needed. His stomach growls loudly, breaking the forest-quiet. The lizard runs away and scoots up the tree.

“Aww…” Alleluia reaches up after it, but it’s long gone. “You scared it away,” she complains. A frown grows on her face, but as her eyes drop down from the tree towards him, they stop half-way, seeing something else in the distance.

Alleluia sprints off. “Look at this!” she calls out.

Canta sighs and walks after her, hoping that whatever she has found is edible. Plucking a leaf from a low-hanging branch, he takes a bite from it, but then spits it back out in revulsion a second later.

They have been walking for a while now.

After exiting the staircase, they found themselves at the top of a small hill that overlooked a forest, the exit hidden behind a rock-hang. However, from atop the hill, there was nothing to see but darkness in all directions, except upwards.

Canta had pointed to the sky and suggested following the direction of the brightest star, until they found something. Alleluia, to his annoyance, had called him a hopeless romantic for this suggestion, but then grabbed his hand and ran off into the forest with him in tow.

In truth, he doesn’t even know if it’s a good idea. There was just nothing else to walk towards, so he took the brightest thing. It was essentially just a random guess.

“Sweet-pea!” calls the clockwork-person from behind a tree. “Look!” she calls excitedly. Canta, having little choice in the matter, heads after her to look. Though the truth is, he is excited himself to be out on the surface. He is excited to see the grass and to feel it beneath his bare feet. He is excited to see the tall trees and the distant, brightly shining stars that are hidden beyond their lush, verdant crowns. He is excited to feel the whispering wind creeping through the midnight forest and softly touch his skin.

But he supposes that he’s having a hard time showing that, his hunger getting the best of him again. Canta shakes his head, resolving to snap himself out of it and to try to show his true feelings too.

“Ooh~ Oooooh~” coos out Alleluia, as he approaches, her hands by her face as she looks up at the tree above her, where a large owl sits perched, staring down at her warily.

‘Who hoooo~’ hoots the owl, its call ringing out through the night.

“Oooh~ Ooooooh~!” mimics Alleluia up towards it, her chiming, stiff voice unable to get the sound down just right.

‘Who hoooo~’ hoots the owl again, ignoring the odd woman standing far beneath it.

Canta stands next to her, looking up at the owl and then over at her, somewhat disappointed, expression. He cups his hands around his mouth. “Who hoooo~” mimics Canta, getting the sound almost perfectly right. Alleluia gasps. The owl stares down at him, perplexed, its moonlight eyes wide and paranoid.

“You’re really good at that!” she says giddily. “Do it again! Do it again!” she pleads, clasping her hands together.

Canta, feeling an odd feeling that he isn’t sure he likes as he looks at her happy face, beaming down towards him, closes his eyes and obliges, noticing that his cheeks feel a little flush. “Who hooo~” mimics Canta again, overcoming his mild embarrassment.

“Ooooh~ oooooh~!” chimes Alleluia excitedly.

‘Who hoooo~’ hoots the owl.

This game goes on for another few hoots, until eventually, the owl flies off into the night, looking somewhat bothered.

After that, the two of them keep walking until they find something else; a different voice that breaks the silence. A small river, whose voice babbles as it runs through the rocky sediment of the river-bed.

Alleluia sits on her knees, leaned over forward and stares at her face down in the water, turning her head and running her fingers over her features. Canta, sitting kneeled over next to her, pulls his head back out of the water and gasps in delight.

“Real water!” he cries in happiness. It isn’t food, but with his stomach full of clean water, he can’t help but feel a lot less stressed. Alleluia doesn’t say anything, looking at him for a second before turning back to her reflection.

River Water

~1000mL

Pure - Make Up - Trace Minerals: 3.00% Water: 96.00% Other 1.00%

Canta gets up and stands behind her, leaning over her shoulder and looking down together with her at her reflection. “Don’t worry,” he says, rubbing her back. “You look great,” he says. Alleluia’s eyes light up as she turns her head over towards him. “- for someone your age.”

The next thing Canta knows is that he’s flying and then, a moment later, he splashes down into the river. He kicks and flails, trying to remember if he knows how to swim. Will drowning kill him? Or will he just sink into the mud and feel like he’s drowning forever and ever? His arms and legs flail and he notices that somehow, he is moving closer to the surface. Thankfully, the current of the river is only very gentle.

His head pops out of the water, as his legs kick to keep him afloat. Apparently he does know how to swim. “What the hell was that?!” he asks, looking at the clockwork-girl who is still sitting down before the water’s edge. She shoots an ireful glare his way.

“I thought it was about time you had a bath. You smelled.”

“I did not!”

“You did,” she says, lifting her nose up into the air. “You stank like dungeon.”

“You’re one to talk! Can you even smell?” he snaps, swimming over towards her.

She raises her hands, pulling the mesh-bonnet off of her head. “I’m not going to dignify that question with an answer,” she replies pridefully, as her long, fake hair drops down around her face. But as it drops, so do her eyes. At first down towards her reflection, but then lower still, away from it.

Canta, having reached the far end of her reflection in the water, looks up at the real thing and then at her long, moonlight tinged hair. It also carries the same color as his, but in a different way. “It didn’t use to be this color,” she explains. “But after a while… the color just kind of faded away with nobody to repaint it.” She runs her fingers through it, but doesn’t look at him or herself. Canta floats there, watching her, still feeling something odd again that he doesn’t like feeling. It is a feeling that comes together in his chest with a sudden, surprising anxiety.

He knows what he wants to say, but somehow, the thought of saying it makes him fearful in a way that very little in the dungeon managed to achieve. It is a different kind of fear, one that isn’t born out of a survival drive. Canta’s own eyes fall lower now, meeting those of his reflection. It stares back at him with judging eyes that peer through the wet strands glued to its face. It looks at him as if wondering about what was taking him so long to keep his promise about being honest with his feelings? About his trying to be a nicer person? His own eyes stare up at him, wondering, is he all-talk, or is there any inkling of intent to his character at all?

His head, half-sunk in the water, rises up like a frog’s, as he looks back at Alleluia. “Your hair is beautiful and so are you. Don’t worry about it,” says Canta plainly and without any flair, doing his best not to dive back beneath the water and hide himself. “It looks very elegant.”

Alleluia lifts her glass eyes, looking up towards him, her finger suddenly twirling one of the strands she was holding. She beams, apparently pleased with his compliment. “I’m not going to forgive you that easily for saying that I’m old,” she states, matter of factly, but still smiling.

“Huh?” asks Canta, looking up at her from the water.

“Mm,” nods Alleluia, lifting a finger from her other hand to beckon him closer. “Come here for a second,” she suggests in an odd, clearly too chipper tone.

Canta narrows his eyes in deep suspicion. “Why…?”

Alleluia’s hands fall lifelessly down onto her lap, as she stares at him with two lightless, dead eyes. Her expression becomes entirely blank and neutral. “For punishment.”

“I refuse!” shouts Canta, pointing at her and splashing up out of the water.

Alleluia crosses her arms. “Then stay in the water,” she replies emotionlessly.

“Huh?” His finger falls limp.

“Stay in the water. As long as you’re in there, I can’t get you,” she explains to him. “Or you can come out and accept your punishment like a good boy.”

“I told you not to say that! It’s creepy!” yells Canta. “You know, violence against your partner is wrong!” he argues. “How about some dignity, huh?!”

Alleluia stares at him, unblinking. “Then stay in the water and keep your dignity.” She tilts her head, her beautiful hair falling sideways, as a wide smile grows on her face. Alleluia clasps her hands together next to her face. “I hope it doesn’t get too cold though, Can-ta!”

He crosses his arms in indignation. “You aren’t supposed to hurt people you like,” he protests. “It’s wrong.”

“You hurt me first,” she argues, turning her head away in a huff.

“It was a dumb joke! You’re probably going to break my arms or something!” he snaps back at her. “They’re not the same thing!”

“What a horrible thing to say!” gasps Alleluia, her blank expression becoming shocked. “You know I would never hurt you like that.” She turns her head the other way. “Not on purpose at least…”

Canta stands in the water, crossing his arms now and sighs, he rubs the back of his head. “I’m sorry I was rude, okay?” he grumbles. “But that doesn’t give you the right to throw me around.”

“That’s how dungeons work.”

“WE’RE NOT IN THE DUNGEON!” yells Canta suddenly, holding his arms out to his sides. As his temper shoots sky-high in the flash of a second.

“Don’t yell at me!” yells Alleluia back at him.

The two of them glare at each other for a moment, both of them narrowing their eyes. Indignant, Alleluia turns around, turning her back to him as she stares out into the forest. Canta looks around, taking a deep breath as he stares into the dark forest and into the sparkling river that reflects the light of the thousand stars above their heads. The wondrous stars that fill the night sky, waiting to be seen. Canta purses his lips, knowing what to do.

There is a loud cranking sound, the sound of a winding chain being pulled taut. Alleluia turns her head around, watching as he turns her crank and then climbs out of the water, sitting down next to her, but facing the other way.

“Look!” says Canta excitedly, lifting a hand to point up to the sky. Alleluia turns, her eyes following his arm up towards the brilliantly shining night above them. A piercing orb cuts through it, breaking the darkness as it flies from one end of the sky to the other. The clockwork-girl quickly turns around, scooting to face towards the river again.

“What’s that?!” she asks, leaning forward, as she stares in fascination at the thing in the sky.

“It’s a shooting star,” explains Canta. “Sometimes, stars move.” He squints his eyes. “That’s a really slow one though, usually they’re only there for a few seconds,” he puzzles.

Alleluia gasps, this revelation being entirely new to her. “It’s so pretty!”

“You can make a wish,” says Canta, leaning back with his palms behind him in the dewy grass. “They say that any wishes you make on a shooting-star will come true, eventually.”

“Really?!” she asks.

Canta nods, and then falls back onto the grass with his hands behind his head. “Yup, but keep it a secret, or it won’t come true.”

Alleluia seems very excited about this news and closes her eyes, apparently making a wish. Canta decides not to make one. He doesn’t believe in it honestly. It’s kind of a kid’s thing. But if, somehow, it is real and there are only a limited number of wishes to be given out, then he doesn’t want to waste her wish for something dumb that he wants. He doesn’t need a wish for that. He’s going to get everything that he wants in this new life with his own two hands.

His stomach growls.

His own two hands fall down on top of it and he sighs, now only seconds later wishing that he had wished for some food after all. But by the time he looks back up, the thing in the night-sky is gone and Alleluia falls down sideways, staring at him and then tilting her head up at an angle as they both lay there together under the heavy curtain that coats their entire world.

An owl hoots from up in the trees, just across the river.

‘Who hoooo~’