The motion was set, and the remaining resources were in the librarian's possession without the prince's acknowledgement. A few literatures and scriptures were held at the back of a treasure chest, in hopes of keeping a record of Gold Creek somewhere safer. The boat is just waiting by the dock, enough to carry at least three people.

"Alright! Alright! I'll get to the bolt immediately, friend." Charger rushes to the coast with his cart.

"Are we really going to use that much tins to sail over?" Eve helped him with several tins from the back.

"Nope. But we would need the cart very much to bring us there. So just watch and learn." He prepares his tin welder equipment.

"Haah—nothing beats the feeling of adventure awaiting you, Eve. No more boring jobs at the library and wasted books for some references..." She sat under a tree with an empty book.

"But now I wonder if I could owe to the Carven yet as I promised. I wonder what kind of things I would see there..."

"Maybe I should ask Cyrus about this first? Eh, no. He'll ruin it for me..."

"This whole adventure is just for me today. Hehe..."

The leaving is closer to fruition, with only a few this and that settled by the Tin Man. It was only a matter of time to inform the last person to leave this town once and for all. But when the man followed her by the cave—through the tin garden that blooms nothing but rust—the man was stunned when he saw a home and a man ahead.

"Ehem!" Cyrus mumbled behind Eve, waiting for a long time at her back.

"What's up?" Eve replies, oblivious to what she had set before.

"Care to explain everything? What is this? What the heck is all of this??"

"Where are we? What are you doing here, and most importantly..."

"What in the seven suns was that absurd cretin am I looking at??" He pointed at Charger.

"I can hear you!" Charger yelled.

Awe not, he was devastated by the choice made by the librarian to save himself. And the Tin Man standing out in the broad sand, appears to mock him for his cowardice, belittling his people, and infuriates the cleric even further for the given life. The angered cleric didn't take it easily and came close to an attack. 

"Cyrus, meet Charger. Charger the Great. He's an extraterrestrial creature from the star who would help me achieve my greatest goal for a long time." Eve dragged the two for a greet.

"And Charger, meet Cyrus. My old human friend who had been with me for years since I was ten. He's a good man, but he may be too good at it."

"Oi, Cyrus." Charger waved at him.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Did you say—extraterrestrial? Like an alien?" Cyrus poked his forehead with a wide eye.

"Yep. And guess who's the lucky one here?" She pokes at herself, smirking with that thought.

"I...I better not do this. I...you know what? Screw this..." Cyrus laid his hand on a rock wall before standing up with a troubled face.

He yelled at the monster, calling him evil to be slain. A sharp stone in his grip to kill him mercilessly. But the librarian intervened, pushing him to the ground so that his eyes were covered by sand and he would stand out blindly before her.

"Eek!" Charger hides behind a buried boulder.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! What do you think you're doing??" Eve confronted him.

"What? It's only a rock!"

"I'm more than just a rock!" He yelled.

"Even if he was just a rock, you don't have to kill him here! He's part of my contract until I'm done!"

"What? No, I'm just—please, just let me..." Cyrus pushes Eve aside, confronting Charger with four eyes.

*Scrrsh* He rubbed the sand sideways, forming a line between Eve and Charger.

"There. Now stay there while me and Eve talk about this."

The cleric tried rubbing the sand off his eyes, but it was nearly impossible with only one clean hand. The librarian sweeps her hand across his face with her two hands, praying it would dispel him of his madness. But the man was so angry that he was twice his madness before the librarian.

"I can't believe you've made a deal with an alien and expect that it was a good idea to leave this world without a news? Not even to me?" Cyrus and Eve rounded far from Charger, letting him do the work.

"Well, are you going to stop me if I told you I will journey afar?"

"Yes! Because you're not an adventurer! You haven't even travel outside this town before."

"Then you should've been watching your other friends because not one will even knew I'm gone! Everyone doesn't know me!"

"I know you! And I don't want you to get hurt right there! What if you got hit with substances you never knew? What if you got cursed to look like that creature over there?"

"Then good for me that I'm not a boring human anymore! At least people would actually notice me!"

"That's not...Eve."

"We've talked about this morning, Cyrus. You asked me if I had something more interesting to do than reading, and I told you before. This is what I find more interesting than reading." Eve mumbled desperately.

"When I was a kid, I've always had to watch things from a book everyday, and I could only imagine the world outside of Gold Creek to be as fun as it should."

"But every passing year always makes me lose interest. I feel like I've never been able to understand everything until now. When I heard what others had said about a miracle, I'd been blinded by deceit for so long."

"But now? Now I was more than just enlightened. I was offered!"

"I've been spending a lot of years reading literature made by those who ventured far before me, and now...now I want to be the one writing."

But she came not to hurt him but to speak for his own good. The madman cleric wasn't aware that the Tin Man was no enemy. For him, the Tin Man was nothing more than a monster or a thief. But the only truth here is that there's no monster than him.

"I—I don't know, Eve. How do I know this won't regret you?" Cyrus became more worried, but he couldn't deny such request from her.

"Because I've been dreaming about this. Dreaming about a world where I have a story that I can share like no other! A story where I'm a venturer!" Eve shared a book with Cyrus. Lots of literature for him to see about fantasy and sci-fi genres.

"I won't regret it! Not when I could have a wound that marks me a venturer! This is my journey! Ever!"

"And you're not going to stop me! Not until I filled this empty book with something. Something out of this world..."

He stops. The rationality finally came to his senses, and his maddening head stopped brewing blindly. The sharp stone is loose with shame and the voyage continues. Yet he couldn't accept the truth of his fate being saved from the calamity, urging his little kindness of him for a row. But the boat would only fit for three people, and there was nothing they could do to save the others.

"*Sigh* I guess I can't argue with that, huh?" Cyrus agreed to the deal.

"Finally! I'm glad I don't have to make 2 pages reason for that." Eve chuckled arrogantly.

"But—If you wanted to go out there, then I'll come with you."

"What? Are you out of your mind? This is MY adventure!" Eve stares in disappointment.

The stubborn cleric immediately changed his mind, knowing the librarian's persistence and the Tin Man's kindness to save him. It was the only thing he could do for anyone else. Others have lost in a deep, dark confusion whereas he has not. And the librarian came to save him from the void.

"But I also wanted to join, you know! I mean, you just hit twice a pot of gold today and I'm only here waiting for you? Not fair! I want to be a part of it, too!" Cyrus stares enviously at her.

"Please, let me do this, too! If you're going to an adventure, I would also wanted to! Who knows what I can get back home from there?"

"I think you should let him, Eve! He could've got us in trouble if you didn't!" Charger works quarter from his progress. But Eve stares unamused at the two.

The boat was packed with food, clothes, and memoirs just as the librarian set. But it wasn't enough to survive one voyage away, so the cleric helped them fill the boat with enough wood to the bottom.

"So, what's the catch with—this?" Cyrus glares sharply at the arch.

"It's a vehicle that will drive us somewhere farther from this land so we can reach the gate to the upper realm like many of your people do," Charger focuses.

"Our people?"

"Well, a lot of people from this planet travelled through realms as they wished. But they have a bridge on Earth somewhere on an island that remains dormant for years. We could use that instead since nobody will find us there..."

"So there are humans before us above there? That means a lot of friends for me!" Cyrus was excited about the news, but not for Eve.

"AT LEAST there's a human from Gold Creek who hasn't gone there, right?" Eve glares enviously at the intervention between Cyrus and Charger. The word humans compromises a few originality of her sources.

"I don't know. A lot of them hide their identities from me."

"I'll take that as yes."

But by the time they were finished, the sky had already gone dark, and a storm was about to come sweeping the ground clean. There's no doubt that sailing now would be a life-taking adventure, let alone unprepared on a floating wood in an open ocean. Waiting was the only choice they had.

[1 hour later]

*Crank round joint* "Alright. I'll be finished with this raft in no time, but I can't say we travel now because of the weather." Charger left the raft hooked to the coast.

"Aw, what?"

*Storms grunting*

"He's right, Eve. It's dusk already. We should at least wait until the sky is bright so we can reach whatever this 'gate' you're mentioning." Cyrus grabs a tin lantern and warms himself on the coastly night.

"I'm sorry, friend. But I wouldn't travel in darkness if I were you." Charger joins him.

"Ugh...fine! But I'll go pack my stuff up first," Eve left the coast alone.

"And Cyrus! If you want to come, then help me pack up!"

"Got it!" Cyrus left the lantern.

The Tin Man didn't want to be left in the dark and rusty tin roofs. So he pleaded to stay around the two because the thunders would tear his home. At first, she disapproves of the idea. But given the situation, he and the cleric willingly let him stay over her wooden house. But she had to keep him away from people, and those people didn't make it easy for the two.

"Cyrus! Cyrus!" Yelled a familiar people who called his name with excitement.

"Lisa? Trude?" He replies as usual to his group of friends, excluding Eve on the street on the way home. She walked away without looking back at him.

"Where have you been? Have you not seen the others talking about the West party? Mr. Carven is holding a huge one!"

"Hehe! I wish I could go, but I'm afraid I have a thing to do first. I mean, a FRIEND to handle..."

"Aww, but you'll miss the party! Tomorrow, me and Trude are going there! You should join!"

"I'll try. I couldn't say no, right?"

"Maybe it was just me but...is it weird that you've been getting old lately?"

"W-what?" Cyrus smiles down.

"I mean, it might be just me but..."

"Trude! Cyrus, don't listen to her. You're still as amazing as you are! Just come at the party if you really can, okay?"

"Yeah! Sure...I'll go for that." Cyrus puts up a face.

"You're not talking to them?" Charger pokes out of her bag, watching Eve unlock her apartment door.

"No. Not my friend. Not my talks."

"Well, why don't you try talking with them at least once?"

"I don't like them. They're not interesting..."

"Do they bully you?"

"No. But they would mock me what I like."

"How do you know that? You never talked to them."

"Bet you knew that when you'll ask them about your little adventure, too."

"Mine isn't boring! Is it?" He glanced pityingly.

So when the two reached the forest, it was already a heavy storm following a foggy night in the forest. Not even a star could be seen from the sky, and navigating through the dense trees was hard without a light. It was only because of a luck that they reached home safely for the librarian to save themselves in a warm, comforting house.

But the outside was still as dead as the night. The air is breezing with terror, and the three can't outlast the breeze that soon turns into a gust from her window. The trees were too thin to keep them warm, but lucky enough that the librarian had a few woods to warm up the room.

"Eve! Eve!" They yelled.

"What?" She stopped packing to find the two shivering in fear in her bedroom and blanket.

"It's cold, friend. Mind setting that fireplace you've had under?"

"You lived like this? Are you a ghost or something?" Charger yelled.

"Oh, come on. You really can't sleep without a fire burning down your house?"

"Eve..." Cyrus plea.

"You know I can't live like this. Never..." Charger grunts.

"Ugh...fine. I'll lit the fireplace..."

The warm repels the cold gusts away from the tree house, brightening the corner of the bark with a light that keeps every mind at peace. In this peace, the three could express all their imagination under the sunlight.

"Ah, finally. It's bright in my eyes." Charger swam into the fireplace, lighting himself inside.

"I'll go make a coffee!" Cyrus headed to the kitchen.

"Cyrus, no! I don't have—ugh..."

"Don't worry, friend. In a distant land out there, you'll have a better coffee to drink than here. Let the guy pour that coffee for himself."

"Well, that 'guy' just took a coffee 'I' rightfully bought from him."

The three closed their eyes and began to sleep. In a distant dream, they dive into the ocean of story, swerving through the coast of wisdom and arriving safely in a land of truth. Each had their own way of arriving at these lands, but none could compare to what the librarian had delved into.

"Zzz..." Charger slumbered quickly on the floor with a thin cloth on his body. But the two sat near the bed, watching the storm from the sky dripping through the rain.

"Huh, that one looks comfortable in his skin." Cyrus jokes, leaning her shoulder at Eve while packing her stuff.

"I pray I have no metal skin like him. What do you think?"

"Do you mind?" Eve stares at him with a sharp eye.

"My bad."

"No, do you mind? I need someone to carry out some of my books so I didn't have to return home."

"Don't you need something more IMPORTANT than that? Like sunblock? Snacks? We don't even know how long we'll be going."

"I did but I don't have to, because I'm thinking of going for a long time in a lushful world with fruits I can eat freely on the tree. Just imagine the paradise, Cyrus."

"Eve, I don't really like this. But that's why I'm joining your little voyage, right? I just hope you don't feel bad not making it out there tomorrow. I think it'll be fun as long as we make it, right?"

"I mean, we still have a lot of things here. Like going out to school and spending a lot of time with our friends here..." He stared at the ceiling with a smile, but Eve stared down with a shock.

They have to make it out for that adventure. The storms couldn't last forever, just like their lives in this town. For that night, the librarian had to ponder at the wall every day, wondering what she would tell the world after her arrival. Even in her dream, there was no resting at that thought. Not until she was in that boat.

"I have to make it." She stared at the window sharply at the rain.

"You'll make it, Eve. I can assure you." Cyrus drank his coffee.

"But I have to make it. If not, I failed—and a failed me isn't something I wanted to be. I have to venture through, Cyrus. I have to..." Eve stood on her point.

"But what do you want to do there? What can a human like us do to a place so mighty? Can we truly say this is an adventure if we only travel out of this town?"

Eve pauses momentarily before looking at Cyrus, "I can."