“Forsaken by the people and Forgotten by time?” Came my question (Also, Welcome Back!). “I remember the Ange- I mean, the Seraph that send me here said that SiegeFrames were used in a war that happened 250 years ago. But why were you… Wait I mean we, were Forsaken and Forgotten?” I continued my question, to which Kragg who walked towards the left side of the pod I am in, answered. “In the past, in the conclusion the Liberation War; the war between Human and Elves, many feared our power, for they hath seen the destruction their creation are capable of and so. They hath decided to destroy us all and spare none.”

“We were only saved from that fate by an Angel that thence came and proclaimed glad tidings to us. He proclaimed the coming of the One that has been Chosen and would be Hero of the Vanguards. And because of the proclamation and the warnings most of our Race were able to disappear, to vanish from the cities, to avoid the hatred that continued to seep through the hearts of everyone directed to us, it being more painful to bear than the punishment of these vessels contain.” Came his words as he held a dark blocky metal arm up to show me.

I took a look at it and was concerned that that arm would be useless to me, it looks like it wouldn’t really match the mechanical design of my body and so, it wouldn’t function properly. “Um, sir Kragg, I don’t want to be rude but, I don’t think that arm is compatible with my body.” I said telling him my worries. He tilted his head to the side a little indicating he didn’t understand what I mean. And so I explained my point.

“Uh, well. I think that arm lacks the mechanisms to function and interact with my body.” Came my explanation. As a response, he turned his head to the arm before returning to me and staring at the whirling mechanisms in my broken left shoulder looking confused (I don’t know how I can tell, I mean, he doesn’t have a face for crying out loud), but then he started laughing.

It was my turn to be confused, I didn’t say anything funny to him, and I was also a bit offended, thinking that he’s laughing at my reasoning. I can’t fault him that much though, he lived I don’t how long as a SiegeFrame than I did (I am just literally just hours old in this world). Not really expecting for the laughing blacksmith to stop any sooner, I turned my head and eyes to Lira with a confused expression that I hope I was able to convey (again I don’t know if I have a face or not).

Lira got the memo and glared at Kragg, but that didn’t stop the guy from laughing so she growled at him. “Kragg of the Northern Mountains of Dwarves, I command thee to calm thy self and give thine respect to the Hero of the Vanguards!” Came her order, which made Kragg stop almost instantly and stand straight like a pole, he even dropped the arm he was holding. With a quick “Yes your Highness!” he then kneeled down. I heard a faint laughter outside, presumably the same knights that greeted us when we came to Kragg’s workshop.

The blacksmith growled at the laughter but then remembered that his Queen was still looking at him, which was enough to make him settle down. Lira then made him explain himself to me, to which, he did with a little panic. “I ask for thy forgiveness, Sir Hero. I have laugh because I have just realized that I have not told thee of the procedures that I would act to do, along with how I would perform them. I was still in my stupor and cannot help but laugh at the realization that I have made a fool out of mine own self in front of the Being that I have waited to meet.” Kragg explained, his head hang low.

Hearing that, I felt guilty thinking that he was making fun of me, and so I apologized too. “No, no. It’s ok. I should apologized too. I though you were making fun of me. Sorry. Also just call me John, its just weird to be called ‘Sir Hero’ all the time.” I said, which the two received shockingly. Lira’s eyes widen upon hearing my name and my request to be called by my name casually, she then kneeled down beside Kragg, who was shocked too and stared at me with disbelief.

I soon found out why. “Great Hero, we thank thee for such honor that has been bestowed upon us. To know the Mysteries of the Creator. We thank thee for allowing us Kragg, Blacksmith of the Northern Dwarven Mountains and I Lira, the Wife of Koor, the Chieftain of the City of Oblivion, to hear thy name.” I was speechless. Being given such massive amount of both respect and reverence is so unnatural for me. Feeling uneasy, I asked the both of them to stand up. I then asked why my name was so sacred to them.

“The Seraph that has come to tell us of thy coming has proclaimed that thy name and thy knowledge shall be beneficial to us. He asked us to treat such knowledge with utmost respect and reverence, for if we do not so, it shall be the destruction of our Race.”

Cue confused robot noises. Yes, I am now completely baffled by what I’ve heard and frankly I was in a state of disbelief. In my mind I was like ‘What did Amulon told this guys? and how the heck would my name be such an important thing in this world?’. Feeling a coming headache, I would have rubbed my temples with my working hand to ease it but something connected to it the moment that I was about to so I was forced to do it metaphorically. They might have seen my split second reaction, because Lira asked me if something was bothering me, I just answered with “No, its nothing.” And just made them stand, I would need to clear up my head to process that correctly.

Trying to just do that, I asked Kragg how he will repair me, and to say he was exited was an understatement. “Great John, regarding thy question, I wilt answer thee with a swift explanation. This contraption is one known as the Siege Forge. It is the contraption that was responsible for the creation of Vessels that houses our souls. In times passed, many of its kind were built by both Elves and Humans, that is because of the demand of SiegeFrames due to the war that plague them. As it was responsible for our Race’s birth, it can also help in restoring a body which was damaged so much so that the natural ability of the body would simply take too long to heal.” Kragg explained, his voice filled with both excitement and pride that he had the chance to explain stuff he probably obsessed about.

He then remembered that he dropped the arm and quickly grabbed it from the floor and continued his lesson. “Although it can heal and mend the body, it needs resources to do so, thus the need for this arm.” As he said that he raised the arm to his chest level. “It might not be of a match to thy self, but a Siege Forge can read the designs of the body and manipulate the materials it has in hand and replicate the read designs.” He finished.

Now finally having a clear understanding why Kragg grabbed an arm, I muttered an “Ooooh.” to myself. That earned me a stifled giggle from Lira who tried to hide it by turning her face away. When she has recovered, she straightened out her posture and also her clothes and assumed her ‘Queen Aura’ that she had from the moment I met her (which I mistaken her for a princess). I on the other hand was kinda embarrassed because of the Queen’s reaction from my unconscious use of words. Lira then asked Kragg to begin and so he did. He laid the arm at the same spot where my non existent left arm would rest, he then walked back as the pod door started to close; the sound of clock work telling me so.

When the door with a glass window that allows people to see me from the outside; closed shut, small and thin robot arms came out of the sides of the inside walls of the pod, they then started their work. Sparks lit up my pod as the arms either connected or disconnected segments of armor or components from my body. The extremely damage stuff from my body was brought to the lower left part of the of the pod where I saw sparks and also rapid moments from multiple arms that was assigned there. After a few seconds, the part that was worked on would then be passed back to where it was taken and be put back in place.

It was fascinating to watch, and me being a huge cyberpunk otaku, I drooled, well metaphorically. And true to Kragg’s words, the arms started transforming the left arm that he left to match my right arm. Feeling the kid otaku inside me basically having a seizure because of his fantasies coming to life before his very eyes, I asked a question to prepare that kid part of me. “Um, Kragg sir. How long will this take?” I asked wishing that the pod doesn’t block all of my voice, and to my luck it doesn’t. “Please Great John, do call me with mine simple name and I ask thee not to add any more. I am but a lowly blacksmith. And as answer to thy inquiry; the process will take no more than two hours.”

Upon hearing that, I felt the urge to say that calling people by their name only when I am not very close to them would feel unnatural to me since my parent raised me to be always courteous to everybody (this too they almost literally drilled into me) and be always respectful. I also wanted to ask them to stop calling me ‘Great John’ cause it sounds ridicules and that I don’t need that much respect but I felt that explaining it while I am immobile and can’t do anything just won’t have the same effect as I asking them with all of my body language usable. So, I just nodded for the time being and considered what I should spend that 2 or more hours that I would be laying there, it was not like I can do anything other than glance around.

I am sure that I would be entertained by the process of repairing happening now, but I am also sure that I would soon grow tire of it, so I decided to ask question, awkwardly. “Uh, so… coming back to the topic of SiegeFrames, what exactly cause the war?” I asked to no one in particular, only waiting for anyone of the two to answer. Probably getting what I’m going for my approach, Queen Lira answered.

“Long ago, all of the Races that stood and breathe in all the land lived peacefully. Because of their righteous dealings with one another, they were blessed by the Creator’s hand. They lived in abundance and prosperity, though as time passed, some started to feel that they are higher than those of other Races. Those were the Elves.” She paused as if trying to compose the words that she thinks I would understand.

“They were exceedingly blessed and once was promised to be the Chosen people of Gaia, and that they would inherit the land. Though, because of this, they slowly form delusions that they would be the only ones that the Creator would accept. Thus they started to view the other Races as lower beings, and regarded as of naught. This thus lead to them slaving the others, they first started with the Beastmen, regarding them closer only to animals that roam the land. Next was the Humans; them being seen as beings only usable in manual labor. And lastly the Daimons; seen as Monsters and only worthy to be hunted for sports.” Lira paused again. Not hearing certain Races in the story, I got curious and asked.

“What about the Dwarves and Angels? What happened to them?” Came my question, this time it was Kragg that answered. “We the Dwarves escaped that fate through the persuasion we employed, though in consequence we became accomplices to their deeds.” He explained, his head hanged low in shame as if he was one of the few of his people that decided to willingly agreed to become part of people that enslaved the other Races that was mentioned.

Silence became prominent in the air besides from the systematic noises that the mechanical arms that’s fixing me produced. Then I noticed that Queen Lira took a glance at Kragg, it being full of sympathy for the blacksmith. After some more seconds of silence, Lira continued where Kragg left off.

“The fate of the Angels were the most favorable one that occurred as the enslavement came; they were hid from the eyes of the Elves and was protected by the hand of the Creator. The Elves tried their hardest to conquer God’s Messengers, though they only suffered defeat. They soon then realized that they would not be able to claim the Messengers and so they gave up.”

“But defeat in battle were not the only thing that they suffered through; because of their desires and actions of conquering their Brethren, the Creator took away His Light from their eyes and hearts and left them. And as punishment for their atrocious behavior of desiring to conquer His Messengers, he took away his Promise from them and cursed them and their land.” Lira explained. She took another pause and again waited for some seconds to continue to help me absorb everything she’s telling me. Feeling that I have somewhat absorbed the things she discussed, I nodded to her to signal for her to continue.

“Without the Light of the Creator, and with the curse bestowed upon them, the Elves soon divided themselves in classes and fought among themselves for riches and power over their own land and people. Wars then arose from their midst and they soon craved for the taste of their own blood. As they war against themselves, the Daimons devised a stratagem to free themselves from their captors. And because of the war of the Elves amongst themselves, the cunning stratagem succeeded and the Daimons were freed. This inspired the other Races held captive to rise up and revolt.”

After The Queen finished, Kragg who moved to the side of the massive cylinder of the machine I’m in continued for her; he was observing something I can’t see in my peripheral vision even if I turned my head. “The Humans and Beastman was able to free themselves and establish a united front, they fought like brothers of flesh and blood, and whenever a brother would fall in battle, the others would seek vengeance with every fiber of their being.” The blacksmith continued from where the Queen left off.

“Soon they earned the respects of the Daimons and also earned their help, they assisted the already fearsome force with cunning stratagems that toppled armies, forts and strongholds of the Elves and cost them many lives. There came a time where the Elves became desperate, they realized that if the Humans, Beastman and Daimons are not stopped, they would fall. And so they begged the Dwarves, their accomplices, for help.”

“Their King groveled before the Chief of the Dwarves as he asked for their assistance. With great hesitation, the Dwarven Chief agreed. They created armies of Golems for the Elves though, that proved to be not enough to stop the advancing armies of their former slaves.” Kragg paused, I soon then felt why; I felt a grim aura from him, as if he was about to share something that scarred him emotionally.

“Seeing that their Golems are not enough, the Elves resorted to a despicable tactic. They placed the souls of their captured prisoners inside the Golems.” Again, Kragg paused. It was a shock to me. I can see where this is heading and I was wrong on what I initially thought. SiegeFrames were never created to house the souls of the valiant warriors of whoever created them, it was a punishment for the prisoners; a living hell. “The Golems were controlled by the Elves and cannot be operated by the soul inside it. That was how it was isn’t it?” I asked. It was despicable, and that angered me, but I too know that I can’t do anything about it, so I just forced myself to calm down.

“Yes… The wails of the souls inside riddled the air as they mixed with the last groans of pain of the friends they’ve killed. They suffered to see their sons, their daughters, their fathers, their mothers, and their friends die by their own sword. This harbored the wrath of the Humans and Beastman and the disdain of the Daimons. With this method, they were able to push back their attackers and retake some of their conquered land, but their victory did not last long, and their favor towards the Creator only fell even deeper.”

“The Elves relished in their short victory and improved upon the designs of the Golems which in turn birthed the SiegeFrames. Though, by some miracle, the soldiers of the united front was able to acquire the designs for the SiegeFrames and Siege Forges; the machine that is required for their production.” Kragg stopped talking for a second and mumbled something to himself as he saw something in the thing he was observing (I still can’t see him clearly), but after a few second he continued.

“Where was I… There, the Humans employed the same stratagem as the Elves and tormented them with the same torment that they inflicted to them. The Elves begged for the Humans to stop the torment of their prisoners, but they were met with denial as they did also denied the pleas of the Humans before. The war ragged on fiercer than that of before as hatred fueled both sides. Blood, flesh and steel mixed together and death claimed the forts, kingdoms and settlements of both the Human’s united armies and Elves.”

“Though, the bloodshed was suddenly ended by a rogue SiegeFrame that claimed victory by some miraculous events. He destroyed the device that controls his kin which were in the possession of the Elves, with their strength crippled and little resources and many casualties, the Elves were forced to surrender. Slavery was the only offer of the Humans that would not dispel annihilation and so they accepted, though some disagreed and fled, only to be hunted and killed.” The blacksmith finished. He was still intently staring at whatever he was observing after he finished talking, but it seems like it was not the end of the history lesson cause Queen Lira spoke up and continued where Kragg left off.

“After the war, the Humans were starting to rise up in pride as the same to the Elves before them, and with the power of the SiegeFrames at their hands, there were almost non that can stop them. But that power was taken away from them by the same rogue SiegeFrame that disabled the armies of the Elves. The souls that was locked in the bodies of the disabled SiegeFrames took over them and gained freedom, the same happened to the ones in the charge of the Elves, though a lot of them had their souls shattered in grief and pain.”

“Unable come to terms with all of the things they have done and witnessed, a lot of them took their lives away with their own hands, some took revenge to their offenders, but some chose to come and aid anyone that needed aid and tried to pay for the deeds they have committed.”

“But the massacre that was caused by the ones that took revenge out weigh the deeds of the ones that offered a hand, and a petition of the annihilation of all the remaining SiegeFrames came. Not wanting to be eradicated, they hid. And as thou hath witnessed, they have built a city for themselves and lived in isolation.” After Queen Lira finished, she stepped a few paces back and smiled, then the my pod’s door clicked a few times before hissing with steam, it then slowly opened with the help of its clockwork mechanisms. I also felt the thing on my nape that connected me to the pod disengage setting me free. Kragg then walked closer me to me with his hands on his hips as if to show that he’s proud of something.

“And as I have promised to thee Great John, 2 hours.” He then said to me, his voice filled with excitement and pride. He then signaled me to stand up and move my body around, and so I complied. I sat up from the pod and the first thing I felt was that I have a left hand again, I unconsciously used my left arm to push myself up and when I realized that, I took a look at it.

I then tested it, opening and closing it and also and moving it at every possible angles. It was perfect and smooth. Satisfied, I got up and tested my whole body, the difficulty of moving was gone along with the faint soreness that was bothering me before. I felt refreshed and good, then, Queen Lira grabbed my attention by speaking again.

“As thou hath requested, we have presented unto thee the history that surrounds the war that we the SiegeFrames were a key part of.” Came her words, her lips curled into some kind of sad smile. Then the realization came to me; this people were involve in everything that they have told me, it was not just a history lesson, it was an abridged version of their experiences, maybe even their suffering, and me being a insensitive prick that I am, just asked them to relive them. Remorse course through my entirety and I felt a terrible nagging inside my head to apologize.

Bowing my head and gathering all of sincerity, I apologized. “I am very very sorry… I made you two relive those horrible things…” Even with that, I didn’t feel that it was good enough, and when I was about to continue, Queen Lira cut me off. “It has been a long time since then, we do not harbor anymore regrets nor any more strong ill fated emotions, for we have accepted the things we have done and asked for forgiveness to the Creator. The things that we have discussed before thee are no more than that of stories of old, please do not regret asking us to tell thee about the things that have happened in the past. It will be of great use unto thee and so, a great blessing for us to talk about.” With a smile, Queen Lira paused and then continued on with a more vibrant smile than before.

“Knowing that our experience of the past would be of use to an Agent of the Creator himself, is a privilege that I am glad to have.” She finished. Hearing all of those, I felt all of my remorse melt away, and the smiling face of Queen Lira spoke no lie, so instead of keeping on apologizing I instead gave my thanks with the same sincerity that I displayed when I was apologizing. “Thank you, for telling me those valuable stories. Thank you for trusting me with it.” Came my words of thanks to which the Queen answered with a giggle and a “Your gratitude is a pleasure to welcome.”