Chapter 2 Origin of a dictator ship
The two walked for hours, or it seemed like hours, they couldn't really tell since there was no way to tell time in the tunnels. The man was growing tired, he was panting. Kanonno looked back to him then stopped.
"Why are you stopping?" He asked.
"Because you're tired." Stated Kanonno sitting down and taking out a can and the army knife. "Want some beans?"
"Um … sure …" Said the man sitting down with her as she stabbed the top of the can with the knife. "Kanonno right? Can you tell me what's going on? Why are we running?"
"Hmm … well since your memory's shot, sure." Shrugged Kanonno putting the can down. "This is the country Sakriny, it used to be a kingdom but about 20 years ago it got caught up in a war with Speg, but with dwindling resources the country had to surrender after three years. As time went on the people started getting poorer and hungrier then fifteen years ago the country snapped and was thrown into a civil war.
"The civil war ended when the royal family was murdered and a man named Nicholas Nilen took over the country and started controlling the government. That was short lived since he died from a heart attack and didn't have a successor. The men who helped him take over got into fights, and tried to sabotage and murder each other any way possible. The one who survived was a war veteran named Adolph Reltih.
"He did jump start the economy when he took complete control over it that was the only good thing that came out of it. Everyone had to give up their possessions for 'good of the community' and all that junk, any complaints and you'd get killed. Actually, if you badmouth Reltih he'll take you, your family, your friends, their family, and miscellaneous people that the victim knows, gather them up and shoot them." The man gulped, Kannono continued, "Yes. Our country quickly became poor despite the jump start, everyone having a job, and the rations we are handed weekly. Everyone lived in fear of the government and kept their mouths shut.
"That was when the organization Pequist came about, it was originally a group of writers that feel like they should do something about Reltih's rules and the economy. Then it grew into a guild where they would help people and make sure that no one falls victim to Reltih's purge.
"Things were really starting to look up but about two years ago. Reltih put up some crazy racial laws. Basically it said that anyone with dark skin, hair and or eyes wasn't allowed a job. Shops ran by those people were vandalized then closed down. Then they'd get shipped off to somewhere by train and never come back, with a few exceptions.
"He didn't just target those people he also targeted intellectuals, homosexuals, the disabled, gypsies, people that learned or studied any type of magic, and people who openly worship a different religion, other than 'the religion that revolves around the child of the descender Mary and how he'll save us all and la-di-da' religion. The intellectuals left along with most people who find Nilats to be a nut, while some people hid some of their special traits and pretended that they didn't have them.
"As you can imagine, these laws really damaged Peq's numbers, now it can't really call itself a guild with five members including myself and an incompetent leader." Kanonno finished.
"So what about the people who did come back?" The man asked.
"They seemed broken, and they'd come back with horror stories like the people being sent to labor camps to do nonstop work no breaks to eat or sleep, women and children get burned alive because they were simply too weak, babies being used as target practice, people suffocating to death by gas, people just falling dead next to you and other nightmarish things like that." Explained Kanonno, "The scary thing is, I could see Reltih doing things like that."
"You're getting me out because you don't want me to live those horror stories?" The man asked.
"Yeah, you could be safe if you were put on trial to trace your family four generations back to see if you at least carry the light skin, hair, and or eyes trait. Since you lost your memory I have to smuggle you out, just to be safe." Kanonno explained picking up the can of beans and knife. She ran the blade of the knife against the rim of the can opening it and handing it to the man. "I don't have any silverware so, try not to make a mess, or choke." The man simply nodded and took the can, looked at the contents inside, sloppy mush, he couldn't even tell if it was supposed to be beans. He stuck his fingers into the slimy mush, took out a small blob and stuck it in his mouth.
"Ugh!" he gagged.
"Disgusting isn't it?" Kanonno agreed opening another can of beans, "At least it's not canned spinach." She said using the can top as a plate by dumping the beans on it, though some did fall onto her overalls.
"You sure know a lot about the history of Reltih's rule." Commented the man, trying to get his mind off of how disgusting the mush was.
"That's because I lived through it!" Gloated Kanonno, "If you've lived here since you were born you're bound to know what's happened within the years you were alive."
After the meal they could hardly keep down they went back to having a conversation.
"Kanonno … since I don't have a name as far as I remember could you come up with one?" The man asked.
"Hm? You trust me enough to give you one?" Said Kanonno with a cat smile on her face.
"Well you did get me fixed up when I fell onto the weapons factory, so I think you should come up with one." Explained the man.
"You should come up with that on your own." Said Kanonno, "Stick with something that pops into your mind and that sounds like a name and use that. Besides I'm not good at naming things."
"Something that comes to mind …" The man thought aloud. "I can't really think of anything at the moment."
"Take your time, but at least think of something before we reach a city." Shrugged Kanonno.
"Name name name …" The man murmured to himself, before drifting off to sleep. Kanonno yawned as well, she lied down using the bag as a pillow, it was quite uncomfortable, but it'll do.
When they woke up they continued through the tunnels, took a break when the man was feeling a bit dizzy, then continued down the labyrinth. They couldn't tell how long they've been in the underground, but the man was having his doubts if they'll ever get out. Kanonno's eyes widened when she saw something familiar, then ran forward to a ladder leading up to something resembling a vault, she twisted the handle that latched it closed and shoved it open, and climbed out.
"Come on!" She urged. The man ran after her and climbed the ladder. He flinched once he got to the surface, he blocked his eyes from the sunlight. "You'll get used to it." Sighed Kanonno walking over to a stump, the remains of a large tree; it must've been huge since he could barely see the other end of the stump. Kanonno knelt beside the stump and whispered something.
"What are you doing?" The man asked.
"Praying for a safe journey to Speg." Stated Kanonno.
"What's so special about this tree?"
"Well it's called Yggdrasil, and legend has it that held up the world. Also when it was in danger it would summon someone called a descender to protect it. As you can see it obviously isn't true since the world is still in its place and there wasn't anyone to prevent it from being chopped down." Explained Kanonno, laughing.
"Why was it chopped down?" He asked, with something catching his eye.
"For industrial purposes, my grandmother told me that the people didn't want it chopped down because of a curse or something like that."
"A tree's curse would explain all this bad stuff happening in the country." The man laughed.
"Yes it would, but this tree still a place of worship even though the government tried so hard to keep the people from praying here."
"Maybe this is why the people still pray here." Said the man digging through the snow.
"What?" Kanonno asked walking up to him.
"This." Said the man showing her a sprout peeking through the snow.
"A seedling?" Kanonno gasped.
"Yes, maybe the people found it and used this stump as a place of worship." The man concluded.
"I don't think so, seedlings don't stay seedlings. It looks like it sprouted not too long ago. Besides I heard this tree was chopped down almost a century ago." Stated Kanonno. "I think it's more like the people hope for a descender or something like that."
"If you truly think that you could be right." Said a voice. They looked up to see a small girl with long dark green hair with an outfit to match with one blue eye while her right eye looked like it was burned shut. A chill ran down the man's back, he would say something but he couldn't have a sound escape his mouth.
"Who are you?" Kanonno asked.
"Who am I? Someone who's been watching this seed. It's a bit shy so it hasn't mustered up the courage to sprout until now, or its parent's soul summoned someone to protect it so it probably feels safe." She said without a hint of sarcasm.
"You're kidding right? Are you saying that there's a descender here? That's impossible!" Questioned Kanonno, the girl shook her head.
"With the misfortune man has suffered I should have expected that there will be someone who won't believe." She sighed. "Please answer this, will you say the same things if man has gone through a time of fortune?"
Kanonno remained speechless for a while before answering with "I'm not very religious, so I'm most likely gonna say the say thing."
"Very well, though I don't think you can say that if good things do indeed happen. How about you?" Said the girl turning to the man. "What would you say if man were fortunate?"
The man gave the question some thought before saying: "I don't know. Sorry."
"Nothing to apologize about." Sighed the girl, turning around.
"Wait." Said the man, "What's your name?"
"Name? I lost my name, so … you can call me Siela." Said the girl bowing then walking away.
"That was … strange …" Said Kanonno.
"Yeah…" Agreed the man kneeling down to the seedling brushing the snow away from its roots. "Can I have your scarf?" He asked. Kanonno looked at him awkwardly and handed it to him. He placed it around the seedling making sure he doesn't cover the seedling, killing it. "It might not do much but it'll at least keep it somewhat warm from the snow." The man shrugged.
"I see, we should get going." Said Kanonno walking on ahead.
"You seem to be in a rush." Said the man jogging up to her.
"I just wanted to get to the next town before sundown, which is in at least five hours." Stated Kanonno.
"Sounds like you're paranoid of getting caught by soldiers for being with me." joked the man.
"That and I would probably get killed if they've found out I've been skipping work, if anyone decides to tattle."
"So how long will it take to get to this town?"
"About two hours."
"Will I have to hide my hair."
"That would be a good idea, a very good idea, besides you can get away with having dark eyes easily, the government mostly focuses on hair and skin. I guess you'll have to hide it until we reach Speg."
"Why Speg?"
"It's the closest country with some guilds in it and you can go to Cademeca through Speg since, if you want, I heard that Cademeca has boycotted Sakriny."
"How do you know all of this?" The man asked.
"It's common knowledge, you've just forgotten it all." Smirked Kanonno, the man felt like the words she said shot a bullet through his brain.