Jessica stood next to John, watching him set up outside. "Why are you making the Iron Golem out here? Won't it just have to be moved inside?"
He hummed as he set another iron block on top of the first, to act as a torso. "Thankfully it can move itself after I'm done, so that won't be an issue. This much iron is HEAVY after all."
Another block of iron was added to either side, as 'arms'. Even though the legs, torso, and both arms were all exactly the same size and made out of the same strangely too-perfect blocks of material.
She stood closer to one side to see what steps were next. "Alright, but… Why outside?"
John carefully held a carved pumpkin in his hands as he… Realized he couldn't reach the top of the two block tall stack. "Oops. Uh… Could you lift me up so I can see better?"
Daww! "Of course, bro… When you stop avoiding my question. Why outside?"
Her little brother huffed. "Fine. The original Iron Golem, which are just big ol' softies, remember! They uh… They are a bit tall."
She blinked and looked at the growing sculpture being built. "Well, yeah. That thing is going to be like three meters big when you add the pumpkin. Nearly ten feet tall... But you made room for that inside your buildings, right?"
Considering all the buildings were put together just a few minutes ago, he better have.
John grunted as he tried to (Unsuccessfully) jump high enough to place the pumpkin block. As if he hadn't been able to place all the OTHER materials into this build site earlier today. "Well yeah, the actual materials are like three meters tall, but the finished Iron Golem was a bit bigger… Something like twelve feet tall and weighing over 5,000 pounds on average? Give or take?"
That… That was huge. "That's just two feet short of an entire storey of a building."
John shifted the carved pumpkin to his other hand. "Well, the Essence version of one in Steve's world is that big, the problem is I'm not sure exactly how they will turn out HERE, size wise. I mean, they are basically literal iron giants and I don't want to Craft one of those underground until I see what we are working with."
…Suddenly she felt FAR less comfortable with all this. "That sounds… Risky."
John hummed, considering his height issue and his current requirements as he stood before the iron structure. "Yeah, I'm a bit concerned it will stand out a little bit, but better to accidentally create a new skyscraper sized statue out HERE than underground."
Her thoughts conjured an image of Pumpkin Headed Iron Godzilla and…
Yeah, no. No to all this. "Why don't we hold off on setting up any Iron Golems or defenses until after we get the roads and…"
John blinked. "Oh it won't be a bother. Plus, I want to make sure this bit works without problems." He held up the carved pumpkin which was… Glowing. A soft blue light from the holes and mouth and… What? "See, normally you would just carve a pumpkin and plomp it on, or put a torch inside and use the Jack-o'-lanterns instead… But something about the Belief here is resonating with the entire mess for some reason."
That is even MORE of a nope. "So we should wait until you finish making sure they are usable first, or until we know why it is glowing."
Her brother hummed. "Pretty sure it is legend related. Did I mention the
backstory about carved pumpkins and stuff already? No? Huh."
If it would distract him from using a glowing gourd to Craft a building size moving iron monster, sure. "Why don't we both sit back, take a short break, and you tell me all about it?"
At least until she could grab that thing without him noticing and shove it back in his Pocket. Work towards distracting him from this entire plan until she could get some better weaponry, at the very least.
Her sibling lit up with eagerness! "Sure, it's a great story! My System grabbed the local lore from along with a bunch of other stuff online. Right, so! Originally, Celtic folklore claims a drunken farmer named Jack tricked the Devil, but his trickery resulted in him being turned away from both the gates of heaven and hell after he died."
Jessica stared at her brother.
John nodded. "Cool, right? Anyway, now having no choice but to wander around the darkness of purgatory, Jack made a lantern from a turnip and a burning lump of coal that the devil had tossed to him from hell. Jack, the story goes, used the lantern to guide his lost soul."
She glanced back at the glowing blue light emitting from the solemn pumpkin.
John grinned. "The Celts believed that placing Jack-o'-lanterns outside would help guide lost spirits home when they wander the streets on Halloween. Well, that and the frightening carved faces would also scare evil spirits away. Anyway, when the Irish potato famine of 1846 forced Irish families to flee to North America, the tradition came with them but turnips were hard to come by in the states at the time, so pumpkins were used as a substitute."
The woman stared at the half finished Iron Golem. "And you wanted to use a Soul guiding, evil spirit terrorizing gourd to your massive living iron creature."
Her brother nodded! "Yeah! It should be fine, I'm going to stick a Torch inside first so that it will prevent anything Hostile from being drawn within the guy. It'll be fine."
Uh huh. "Why is your lantern glowing blue then?"
John blinked. "Not sure. Maybe because of local Soul remnants? No, that wouldn't change the color of the… Oh. I forgot to add the Torch, because it was already glowing."
Oh for pete's sake!
Her brother bounced up! "Good catch, sis! That could have been a bit troublesome. Right, I can fix that in a jiffy!"
HANG ON! "WAIT!"
John grinned as his Pumpkin suddenly FLARED with a white purifying light and then the gourd was shifted instantly onto the iron structure as her stupid ASSHOLE of a brother ignored her entirely and bounced on top of a newly placed dirt block to reach the top. "There we goo̘͍͜o͍̯̟̲͢o̡͚͎̱ǫ̝̗̰͎̲o̥͖͓̤͢o̧͎͙͉͇ǫ̮̗͎͇̭͕ǫ̘̤̤̤̳͉͈̞̤̥͔ͅo̢͎͉̙̭̮̥̠̤̪̮̬͇…"
.
The world Ş̫̖̩ḩ̝̲͓i̢̩̬̩͔f̣̟̳͢ţ͔̥̠e̢̙͚̥d̨͍͕͚̲͕…
.
And replacing the Iron Golem entirely… Was an old man. Hunched over, shorter than even Jessica herself.
A statue. One of a homeless man in worn clothing. A beard, straggled and tangled, a body tested by time and society, and two eyes that seemed to g̩͖̮̬̙͢l̠̦̟͜o̧̱̯̱w̢̝̲̥̞̞ with an otherworldly light.
His form was cracked, with vines and plant life twisted through his form like some sort of strange art piece.
And in one hand, he held a blood red
poppy flower. Cradled against the world, treasured beyond almost anything.
Jessica wasn't sure when she had moved, but John was now behind her and she was trying to stay calm. "John? What happened?"
His head peeked around her. "Huh… I guess that makes sense, now that I think about it."
The iron homeless man, still slowly moving without seams or noise, finished searching the surroundings for danger. And then focused on Jessica herself. Old eyes in a worn but immortal body, one cracked and partially reclaimed by nature, saw h̨̖̥̦e̢̟̖r͔͈͉̩͢ directly.
And she felt warmth from those eyes.
John moved to the side as he examined the new statue. "In Steve's world, Iron Golems are the protector of Villagers, and had similar features like the locals, with their noses and stuff. But they weren't identical or anything! Those golems were huge, had overly long arms, and stuff… Almost looked devolved or something."
He moved closer to the old man, and Jessica didn't even feel concerned about it. Not from someone with those eyes.
John nodded. "I guess Iron Golems looked like that back in Steve's place because Village guardians were not just carved sculptures or crafted robots but more something like representatives of their past elders and protectors."
The homeless man offered John his red flower, and smiled when her brother accepted it. Even as another blood red poppy began to grow in his iron grasp.
Jessica felt something… Familiar from this golem. Not personally connected or from a past meeting, more… That attitude. The casual care and affection for those younger and more innocent than one's self.
The eyes of a war veteran who offered kind words to a crying young girl in an orphanage, the gaze of a hurt woman Jessica failed to save trying to emotionally support her family as she grew closer to death, the selfless care of someone who had much yet lost most of it long ago.
She knew eyes like that. She hoped one day to have eyes like that herself.
John tilted his head. "I can't get quick confirmation, but this man must have once been a protector of someone. A group, a place, an ideal… And even though he is gone, the stories of him defending others must still be told somewhere."
Something was caught in her throat. "...Gone?"
John nodded. "The vines. The cracks. I'm pretty sure if the Iron Golem was connected to a living legend, then it would still be whole and unmarred."
The homeless man smiled at the boy who was circling his new iron form.
Jessica remembered smiles like that. "This isn't… Hurting him or anything, is it?"
John hummed. "Nah, this isn't containing his Soul or anything, just the memories he left behind in others. If he ever becomes fully forgotten, he will reform into other legends and empowered thoughts."
The mere concept of this man being forgotten hurts. "Can we find out who he was?"
John nodded. "Should be pretty easy, actually! I think Iron Golems will gravitate towards local defenders who are remembered nearby, so future customers should probably recognize him pretty easily. We just need to ask people when they come to visit the pool, buy bread, or whatever. Write down the legend, make a plaque or card or something."
Good.
Her brother grinned! "Man, this is LUCKY! If they are all this sized we can have hundreds of them set up and not have to rebuild anything."
She blinked. "Wait, don't they weigh thousands of pounds? Wouldn't that crush your place?"
He waved that away. "Nah, look at his feet. Not even sinking into the dirt! I think he still weighs that amount, but the empowerment of his legend is letting physics bend some rules. Unless he is actively defending against something, he would just be a normal vine covered iron statue dude. Not an unstoppable iron titan in compressed form."
Jessica blinked. "Are you sure?"
The homeless man suddenly looked to one side and STARED into the darkness… And for a moment, the weight of Responsibility and Determination pressed down into the world. This place was protected, this place was guarded, this place was SANCTUARY!
Something unseen frantically retreated.
The siblings both stared as whatever-it-had-been could be audibly heard freaking out as it ran away as fast as it possibly could.
John nodded. "Yep. Pretty sure. Now let's make some more!"
Fine. "Does he need anything? To eat iron or whatever, or for his plants to be watered?"
Her brother shook his head. "Nope! Physically, his needs are handled. The plants feed off his innate power and protective nature, and the golem itself is pure metal and… Well, Magic and Belief and the Concept of Defense. As long as ambient energies exist or our place needs protection, he'll be here."
Already her brother had set up the iron structure and was about to place another carved pumpkin, glowing with the white light of a Torch touched by the blue energies of legend. "As for emotional well being? I mean, as long as they can interact with us and those they protect, they'll be happy. We just need to treat them respectfully."
She looked at the old man as he slowly began to move around the glowing green grass and watch over this new place in a forgotten and hurt part of a city exposed to hell itself. "...I can do that."
It would be policy too. Anyone messing with the golems of Doe's Dough and related stuff in Doe's Place? Banned. Hands down.
Hostile or not, anyone who would treat such people badly were NOT customers she would approve of or tolerate.
John placed the new pumpkin. "There we go! I guess I could do this in batches or whatever, but it feels disrespectful to not make each one personally and… Oh."
After a bright flash of light, an iron Demon stood holding a blood red flower.
Tall and covered in iron muscles, chest barely covered with her armor and only the thin green vines growing in her cracked torso and limbs giving color, she was standing firm and defiant against impossible odds history no longer remembered.
Jessica felt raw defiance in her movements, a now literal iron bulwark against the tide. Her hand led her poppy with a fierce grip, as if her fist could protect it from all harms.
She slowly turned to stare at her brother.
He awkwardly coughed. "Uh… Not all defenders come from humanity?"
The iron demon woman grinned with many pointed teeth.
Jessica pointed. "She's nearly nude." And clearly paid for such fashion choices in battle, considering the numerous scars on her clawed and spiked limbs. Not that they seemed to bother her.
Nor did it detract from her raw sensuality.
John nodded. "Yep! She'll be quite popular with customers I bet!"
Damn it, not the point! "Can we get her to wear actual pants instead of an armored thong and vines?"
John blinked. And looked back towards the VERY smug iron demoness. "Uh…"
The iron woman tilted her head up in challenge.
And her brother folded. "No, I don't think I can. Not without rebuilding her from scratch and hoping for a different Defender."
Ignoring her creator and his sibling entirely, the demonic woman unsheathed an iron sword and began to saunter around the perimeter of the property, hips swaying with every step.
Jessica's eyes followed her gently moving tail as she strutted her stuff.
Damn girl. Just… Damn.
The homeless man ignored his new partner-in-iron entirely as he carefully examined the freshly planted herbs in one of the surrounding flower beds. At least he seemed to be fine with the ongoing current events.
John stood there next to her, holding more blocks of iron. "Should I… Should I keep going?"
Jessica blinked, tearing her eyes away from lustful thoughts and sinful sights. "Yes."
Wait, uh… "I mean, um… How many were you going to make?" Don't ask for sexy golems, you are a professional MiB agent and this is your brother. Stay focused. "After all, we still need to go get the car, fix up some roads, and buy the back row of buildings for your parking garage."
Her brother hummed. "Another twenty or so up here, we can' make more downstairs once we start hiring employees or have customers or shopkeepers or residents. No reason to guard downstairs until there is someone needing guarding."
Jessica's mind helpfully envisioned another 20 sinful battle maidens of iron and war and armor looking like THAT and… Cough. "Good plan, maybe have a couple extra downstairs too though. Best to be safe."
Maybe they should Craft few more golems for their new [[Home]] too, just to keep the house secured. Yeah.
