Chapter1: Donau

It was a dark evening in Donau. The wind whistled and tin cans blew across the city streets. The quiet roar of magi-wheels could be heard softly over the distant oil lamps. Out to see a cargo ship honked its horn as it came slowly in to dock at the harbor. The lights blurred out across the dark purpled ocean.

Megufu as that was his name was currently walking home. He had a house near the sea and was at this moment making his way back to it. The oil lamps burned above him lighting the way as they always did at night. He passed a flower square where pretty flowers were all arranged into patterns. It was in keep with the old traditions, a touch of greenery with the modern life yet the flowers sagged from the dirt and grime of the city. There was little the constant watering could do for these plants.

It was a true fact that there were less flowers in Donau these days. The mayor of Donau seemed to have much less time for them than previous mayors. He was of course severely criticized for it and it would be a major issue in the elections. Where had all the flowers of Donau gone? True it had many flowers and buildings and universities dedicated to flowers but what had happened since the ancient times where every alleyway had had flowers?

Megufu however didn't care about that. He was a red headed man who walked with a light step. He was handsome enough with deep brown almost black eyes and a solemn cynical attitude towards life. It had grown on him during his old sinister profession. At this moment he was carrying a bag full of spirits and food for the fridge that he'd gotten from the local mega-shop.

He trudged down a dark alleyway where the lamplight was unable to follow him in from the streets. He faded into the darkness where the light dimly travelled across the gaps in between the bricks before finally giving up. Distantly a siren went off from a magi-wheel probably being stolen. Megufu looked up startled but paid the noise little other notice. He was more interested in getting home than someone losing their vehicle.

"Got any change mister?" grumbled a voice in the darkness. A homeless man was wrapped up in newspaper. He held out an empty cup but Megufu didn't stop walking. The man swore and laid back down trying to get to sleep. He pulled a piece of newspaper over his head.

Passing out of the alleyway the sea roared and distantly the sound of an intoxicating disco drumbeat pounded out across the night air growing louder. He walked across the empty road through the parked magi-wheels and entered into his street. Walking tiredly under the oil lamp's light he walked up to his house and taking out the key unlocked the door. Walking in he closed it behind him and locked it.

The street was better than some he'd seen in Donau. The Gehrich mafia were doing well at the city's expense. He'd in the past been on a Gehrich strong street and it had been far too much for him. It had become too much getting bricks through his windows from the drunks and people throwing up on his doorway so he'd moved out to the suburbs. Megufu had never been in the Gehrich. He had been a criminal however. He'd worked for a group far away as a hit man and thief. He'd moved out fed up as many did get with the hard life and constant fear of being caught. He was retired now. That life was over.

Walking into the kitchen he lazily restocked the fridge. He put a carton of milk in its place and some cheese that he'd purchased and then satisfied he walked into the front room. With a yawn he turned on the image-box and sat down with the remote control in his hands. The news flickered on the screen;

"… and has been the case since last year. Duke Albert twelve has said that he has no intention of returning to the Serdian throne. If Democracy in Serdio cannot sort itself out soon without the use of the monarch legal system that has been so long in effect then there is no telling what could happen. The monarchy in Demingrad refused to comment on the issue telling us…"

Megufu yawned and changed the channel. A gymnast appeared in a large stadium running forward she flipped three times and span through the air. Landing she posed raising her hands in the air the crowd cheered.

"And that's another point for Rouge. So far the Rouge school has dominated the Hero's tournament. Sebiji Karina showed great prowess yet again there. As we see in the replay you can see that the movements were expertly precise and fluent as we expect from the Rouge school. Rouge has always won most of the gold medals in this section of the sports events and it looks like its going to be a similar year. Second we of course as you can see there on the score boards is Fletz and third Demingrad…"

He changed the channel again and a large wheel appeared with a fat man and a presenter by it.

"Spin the wheel Mark! Spin the wheel of fortune!"

With a long sigh Megufu switched the screen off and slumped in the armchair. Reaching over to his left he picked up a bottle of spirits off the table and drunk a mouthful before putting it back down. The phone rang.

Tiredly Megufu picked it up.

"Hey Megufu is that you?" said a shady voice in the other end

"Who is this?"

"Virage's the word. The boss told me to give you a ring"

"I'm retired and the boss knows that!" said Megufu into the phone, "I've been retired for three months now so don't you go trying to give me work!"

"Hey! Geez, calm down man. I think however this you might be interested in…"

"I don't think so," said Megufu ready to slam the phone down

"Two million kerbs," said the voice quickly

"What?"

"You heard me. Two million kerbs for this job"

Megufu held his tongue. That was a lot of money.

"I thought that might make you listen. You may be retired Megufu, but that money would set you up good for the rest of your life"

"Why me?" he whispered back

"Because the guy we had in mind got wasted. The Serdian Secret police found out that something fishy was going on and assassinated our main agent. You're the only other person the Boss knows and thinks is good enough to pull it off. You know, there's a lot counting on this Megufu. If you didn't take up the generous offer the Boss would be very disappointed"

"What sort of job?"

"If you want to find out… there's a limo coming round your place tomorrow morning. Get in it… or get out"

The line went dead.