One of the rebel Bishops caught the bundled mass of cables that Jongho dropped to him from the second floor without difficulties. As his powerful fingers wrapped around the wires safely, Jongho jumped from his place to usher his group downstairs. Together with Yongguk, they emerged to the chilly air to join with the rebels outside.

Around the palace, an abundance of confused people had gathered. Asora's people, but also some from Zey who had found the unresponsive automatons in the streets and wandered over the border to check on the curious happenings. The number of westsiders was still small and consisted mostly of those who sneakily crept over the Chasm on past incidences. Yet, their presence unnerved the Asora folks and brought up even more questions. Nobody had attacked each other yet, but their faces were tense as they eyed the opposite group warily.

Yunho's men were by now under Yongguk's command. The hermit ordered them to keep an eye on the people and create a barricade for the working group. The few remaining guards in the palace who had been wise enough not to attack the Bishops had put away their weapons by now, too, and watched the developments. They kept their eyes on each other, too, as if waiting to report each other's current stillstand to their higher-ups in case they were caught. The mutual understanding that none of them had gotten any recent orders and saw themselves outnumbered kept them at bay.

Of course, everybody knew their king well enough that an airship stuck in the palace wall and a bunch of savages pillaging through Asora was far from his allowance. Yet, they all were too curious to witness whatever this development was to complain. All of their questions got put on hold, and even their shocked cries as they laid eyes upon Seonghwa were shushed.

As Jongho carried his part of the wires behind Yunho through Asora, he could hear them discuss the closeness of the two princes. Nobody knew who Yeosang was, and their theories ranged widely.

Heavy, the metal lines in his gloved hands weighed his arms. Not even his gadgets could provide him with aid since he had to use both arms to wrap around them. Through the streets and down towards the canyon, their procession urged people to come to their windows and doors to watch the odd spectacle in the early morning hours with puzzlement and wonder.

"What do you think goes on in their minds? Will they fear this as being the next horrific idea of our gracious ruler?"

Yunho had pulled down his mask to his neck to talk with Jongho. With a hum, Jongho glanced at a child that pointed at them only to get shushed by the worried mother. When his eyes met those of the woman, she moved back behind her door further.

"I wonder. Once we tell them, will they be alleviated? Or would a dangerous invention of the king mean more peace for them? I'm sure Zey is on board with our idea, but Asora is on the losing side here."

Yunho's tall and broad frame stuck out to the people, and they whispered about who he might be and that he looked like a prince from overseas to them. Jongho, on the other hand, made it his mission to look even more grumpy and brooding. He wasn't too keen on slipping into the role of a prince for those people.

"Yeosang once told me that Asora helps those in need, compared to us. Today will show whether we can actually learn from them," Jongho added dully. Wooyoung passed him when he ran alongside the long line of men carrying the cables toward the canyon. He checked on them all and pleaded with a few people to move further out of the way so they could pass with no problem. No doubt, if somebody scratched up one of the wires, they would be able to fix it. But the sooner they got this done, the better.

As the rising sun began to reflect off the colourful roofs and blindingly white walls of Asora's houses, they reached the canyon. A group of curious onlookers stood on the other side of Zey, but no mayhem had broken out there. Jongho spotted San's bright hair in the crowd, as well as some leaders of the guild he recognised. Even Youjin had come to watch the spectacle.

The guilds kept the questions and worries at bay. And once Zey's people recognised some of their own together with the princes, murmurs got loud, but they accepted it for now.

With careful movements, Jongho put down his part once he was asked to. As Wooyoung went to the back again to order everyone to pause and put the cables on the ground, Jongho joined Seonghwa and Yeosang. The two had followed them but not carried things for themselves since they were busy looking reassuring and peaceful to the people of Zey. As they joined the upper end of the dangling wires, both groups of their split society curiously swarmed closer to watch. Like a group of mice in a hole that smelled the cheese in a human's bag, they waited and crowded closer to peek from every corner.

Jongho brought out some tweezers and a hammer from his belt. Then, his eyes searched the men on the opposite side of them. As if on cue, San stepped out to raise his brow waitingly.

"I need a welding tool," Jongho called over low and confident. Before San could run to fetch one, another man from Zey already handed a suitcase over as if he had forgotten he had been holding it. Once San lifted it triumphantly, Jongho shot the grappling hook over to the other side. It dug into the earth in front of the westsider's feet and caused them to step back defensively.

For the first time in two hundred years, a connection between the two sides that weren't hidden away and hushed in the shadows came about. Jongho rammed the butt of the gun into the ground and asked an automaton to step on it. A nearby Bishop heeded his demand and placed his heavy brass foot on the weapon to keep it where it was. Then, San crossed over the stiff rope slowly but without too many hassles. Awed, the people followed the effortless transgression with big eyes.

Once he arrived, San set down the suitcase. He saluted towards the princes with mirth shining in his eyes.

"Good to see you all in one piece, especially you, Hongjoong. I take it our case was a success?"

"All ends well, yes. Excellent work with the guilds. Can you ask them to get us enough wood or metal beams for a makeshift bridge?"

San nodded hastily at Seonghwa's question. Then, he threw Wooyoung a wink before he crossed back over as if he was no more but an acrobat in a circus. The naturalness of his actions stunned the population of Asorazey into another round of amazement. While they were distracted with him, Jongho sat down to pull his goggles on his face and pieced together the kit. He disliked the crowd watching as he worked, but no detail was asked of him today. He would just need to connect the nethicite sphere to the wires and then leave things to Seonghwa to explain. Everything else was a job for later.

Sitting was a relief that Jongho nearly had forgotten existed. Now that his legs finally rested after the long period of running and walking, the act of sitting alone became the greatest luxury he had ever experienced. Unbothered, he strung the wires together and sorted them all in the correct positions.

Seonghwa handed him the sphere carefully. It had taken him and Yongguk a while to work out its mechanisms and just how it had to be angled to fit the adjoining metal. Once Jongho had set the object down in his lap with great care, the prince stepped back to discuss the matters with their men. With his best ability to block out his surroundings and become invisible, Jongho hunched over his work to begin at his assembly.

With little twists and tweaks of his experienced fingers, Jongho adjusted the wires to line up with their designated places on the orb. His left arm hummed and whirred as the machine worked to keep him steady and put deliberate pushes of energy on his muscles.

Before he started to weld, he shook his overgrown hair out of his eyes. It had started to hang into his eyes by now and obscured his sight. Once they were back in Zey and had their peace, he would ask Yeosang to cut it for him.

He lost contact with the world and his surroundings as he focused entirely on his task. Hot flashes of melting metal blinded his eyes as he fixed the wires to the sphere one after the other. The more connection it had, the brighter the nethicite in the middle started to glow. Its blue light soon lit Jongho's entire figure to defy the golden rays of the morning sun. Both brought gradual warmth.

When only three wires were left to connect, the sphere started to spin slowly. The magnetic field created by the metal cage had gotten strong enough that the perfectly round ball inside came to life. The more pieces Jongho connected, the faster it spun. And when he fixed the last cable to the brass bows, the nethicite glowed brightly and spun like a wheel on a downward hill. Its energy smoothly travelled from the network in Asora to distribute to Zey and create nothing but light for now. Later, once Zey had built the according conductions, it would power so much more.

Jongho set the sphere down on the wooden suitcase to lift it above the ground to move freely inside its metal enclosure. Heavily, it hung from the cables and garnered the attention of everybody nearby. Even more people had been drawn in by the magnetic pull of the nethicite to watch curiously what they were doing. When Jongho took his distance to motion Seonghwa to view his work, their eyes clung to him full of amazement and wonder. Tired, he pulled his goggles down to his neck and rubbed his burning eyes.

Hongjoong stood near him and placed a supportive hand on his shoulder as they watched the crown prince together. With squared shoulders and his earlier lethargy forgotten, he stood next to the core mighty and for all people to see. The rest of the group moved back to mingle with the onlookers and leaned against the house walls. When Jongho met Yongguk's eyes on the other side of the street, the hermit nodded at him respectfully.

Seonghwa rose his voice to speak to the audience powerfully.

"People of Asora, people of Zey. Today, we came to greet you fleetingly and bring a lot of confusion upon you, but I promise that soon, we will answer all of your questions. We ask you all to work together to create a link between the two cities for now and spread the news. No wars, no hate. Anybody who wants to aid is welcome."

A man called over him from his house further up the street.

"Crown prince! What about your father? Did he allow these acts?"

"Worry not about him. My father, the king, is no longer wandering the living. I did not come here to gain a fellowship but merely to work with these friends of mine to offer diplomacy. But I will explain everything tomorrow evening."

Seonghwa let his eyes swipe over the rows of confused and surprised faces. The shock some of Asora's faces showed rarely blended with distaste or sadness. Asora looked puzzled mostly, while Zey broke out in hoots and patted each others' shoulders.

"Let us challenge the attempt at changing things and keep no secrets from each other. Everybody is welcome to join our cause, and I expect respect and equality from anybody who does. And once the sun sets tomorrow, you all may find me at the airship docks in Zey for an explanation. I ask everybody to come, westsiders and eastsiders. And I hope to win your understanding. Even of those who may feel repelled by the idea for now."

For now, nobody moved. When Seonghwa motioned his closest friends to join him once more, the people busied themselves, discussing amongst each other and throwing them suspicious glances.

"This is all for today. Please all get some rest and take care. I'll see you all tomorrow to build a bridge." Seonghwa's tired smile glowed with pride and relief when he received cheerful smiles from everybody.

"Double your guards tonight and take good care," Jongho murmured worriedly. Then, he hugged Yeosang for a short moment as the man announced he would stay with his brother tonight.

Yunho and Jongho parted from the others to leave them to go back to the palace while they made their way over the canyon. Once they had balanced over the rope precariously, San received them to help them down. Instantly, voices full of questions got loud around them. Some people even recognised Yunho and yelled his name to gather his attention.

Led by the guilds that formed a barricade between them and the puzzled people, they were accompanied home. With time, everybody lost their interest and let the two brothers rest. San returned to Mingi overnight, and both duos accepted a few guards from the guilds that watched from the shadows if anybody would disrupt their peace.