Chapter 08: Core


Honestly, he shouldn't have underestimated the little girl. Young as she might be, she's also jaded like the adults. Sana has been forced to grow up like the rest of the children because they lived in the slums. Sad as it was, it was a reality they couldn't control. But soon, there won't be any children that will suffer anymore.

Change will come, no matter how bloody it will be.

He had some of his men shadow the child when she accidentally found out about their hiding place a few days ago, deep within the watch tower that housed all the members of the Fog Troupe. Even with all the people living there, no one should have known where the place was since the entrance wasn't even in the tower.

Kassim had thought that she would instantly head over to Claire's companions to tell them where she was. If that were to ever happen, the only thing that Kassim could do was drag his captive from the room and place her somewhere further away, where that damned King couldn't get his clutches on her until his benefactor came.

Sana proved to be a smart girl and most likely came to the same conclusion. So she had bowed her head and acted as if nothing happened. She most likely knew that she was being followed as well, instincts at growing up in a dangerous area had helped her an instinct that let her know if she was being stalked. She waited for the moment for the men he sent to let their guards down and slipped from their sight as soon as they did. Kassim had to applaud her, for he would have done the same thing had he been in the same situation.

"What are you planning to do with her?" the little girl asked as he dragged Claire away from the door. He didn't answer her questions, none of them did. He shot her a glare that told her to get away though.

Sana cowered slightly at his icy stare and he had to make sure that his resolve didn't waver. She was the same age as his little sister when she passed away, looking at Sana was too much of a reminder for him and seeing her flinch made him remember the times his drunken father tried to swing a fist at his sister. It was one of the several reasons why he didn't like hurting children.

Claire turned away from cowering beneath their benefactors mismatched eyes to shoot Sana an expression that begged for the little girl to get away and not get involved. The young girl hesitated before running away, Hassan moved to run after her, but a single raised hand stopped him.

The tapping of a wooden staff on stone floors brought everyones attention to their benefactor, the man who procured them the magic weapons that could control the mist. His name was Markkio and he was a very disturbing man, which was why he couldn't fault Claire for scooting as far away as possible, he himself was unsettled when he first met the man. His wide toothy grin that screamed of lies and torture did not help his image at all.

Normally, a different person came to handle with him, a guy only known to anyone associated with the Troupe as the Weapons Dealer. He was the one who first approached him and his band of thieves with the offer of magical weapons and a wish to destroy Balbadd's royalty.

The man in front of him, Markkio, was a spy that the Weapons Dealer planted in the royal court. He was the one that fed them the information of what the King of Balbadd had in store with its citizens; namely sell them as slaves in exchange for more money from the Kou Empire.

What a disgusting pig. He can't wait to push the guy away from the throne and give the people of Balbadd their freedom and peace.

The staff that Markkio held was pointed at the foreign girl who flinched at the sudden movement, but stared pointedly at the man. A bubble of light surrounded Claire, encasing her and levitating her above Markkio. She only looked shocked for a second before her face was encased in fear. She pounded at the bubble, screamed and kicked, but nothing she did even made a single scratch on her new prison.

Markkio chuckled at her efforts and tapped the bubble with his staff, lightning danced around within, a simple warning that stopped the girl and her futile efforts to escape along with her muffled screams for help. "Now, I believe it's time that I finish my end of the bargain," he told Kassim.

Kassim scoffed, "About time. I need my army before dawn and new weapons too."

Markkio grinned wider if that was even possible, "My apologies, but I cannot procure an army in such short notice," Kassim narrowed his eyes and was about to object when the man held up his hand to stop him. "However, I do believe I can give you power that will annihilate an entire army with a single blow."

The leader of the Fog Troupe tilted his head to the side and looked at the man with a sneer. This power he speak of was most likely made of magic. "I'm listening."


After the creepy man returned from his lovely chat with Kassim, I was dragged away via a floating marble that trapped me in it. I can only guess that Kassim was not entirely pleased with what the guy and he had discussed earlier.

It turns out that the exit lead to a deserted part of the city, the door was hidden well behind some ruins and what I believe to be crude grave stones.

I tried talking to the man to try and charm my way out of the bubble. After all, if I can walk, I'd have a better chance of kneeling him in the groin and running away. He didn't seem as scary as Kassim and his two companions, just creepy. Very creepy.

He knew how to do magic though, so that might prove a problem in my escape plan.

The man didn't bother to try to converse with me as I sputtered on about the weather, why his eyes were the way they were or why he would should shave or grow his mustache. After all, having a mustache makes a person look like a complete creep. It's a proven scientific fact.

However, he silenced me when he started to fly, without a broom stick! The marble I was in followed him up in the sky and I would have loved the view no matter if I was confined in this small space which made it awkward to sit or stand up.

After all, I remember the beautiful Balbadd when I first laid eyes on it with Morgiana, Aladin and a barely clothed Sinbad. The city was so beautiful with its simple stone structures, complex streets and alleyways, colourful clothing hanging from one building to the other, lively people at the bazaar shouting their wares and of course the vast blue ocean that put the Côte d'Azur to shame.

It's too bad I can't say the same thing anymore.

The buildings were splattered red, the clothing hanging on their rooftop was on fire, the people screaming around and attacking eachother or cowering to some place safe. Blood was everywhere and with the fire eating its way through the buildings, it painted the nearby ocean a sickly copper colour.

Balbadd was in absolute shambles.

I don't know what happened since I was gone, but it was definitely not a bloody mess when I got kidnapped.

"What's going on?!" I asked my captor, trying my best not to look at a person that was hit in the head by a bottle, only to see a man swing a sword at a lady trying to protect her child.

I tried to ignore my surrounding and the coiling in my stomach by closing my eyes and taking a deep breath. But it was no use. Even from this far away, up in the sky with the creepy man called Markkio, I could hear the agonised screams, loud and clear. I pressed my hands on my ears and tried my best not to barf.

This was a civil war. A full blown civil war. I glared at the man who dared to chuckle at the people's suffering. "They are merely showing their true colours as a barbaric folk not worthy of the divine fathers' blessing."

I honestly have no clue what he was talking about, but at least I knew now that he was part of an insane religious cult. The word divine was a huge hint.

He floated closer to the palace, the bubble I found myself in following him like a lost puppy. The sound of a voice so incredibly familiar forced me stop glaring at the mad man in front of me. Frantically, I searched for the person and found a girl running towards a small boy about to be culled by a burly man.

"Sana!" I yelled and pounded at the barrier. She didn't hear me. Hell, I highly doubt she even knew I was here. I watched with horror as she protected the young boy with her body, only to be stabbed to death, the sword going through her body and to the one she had tried to protect.

"No…" I didn't bother to hold back the tears in my eyes as I placed my hands on my lips to stiffle a gasp.

Why?!

Why was this happening?

She didn't deserve to die like that, nobody did. She was nothing but an innocent girl. A brave and smart girl, incredibly kind and so, so young.

Sana's supposed to be in school, giggling with kids her age, moan about homework and have fun with her life. The little girl did not deserve anything like this to happen to her.

Fate is such a cruel thing...

I punched the glass so hard I knew that the skin would bruise. If I wasn't trap here, Sana would be alive. I would have dragged her away from here, to somewhere safe, but it was too late. I'm nothing but a pathetic teenaged girl stranded in a strange world ruled by magic.

If only I had the strength and bravery that the girl had shown me. She was so selfless, trying to protect the little boy with her body.

Markkio ignored the chaos around us to shoot me one of his unnerving grins and a humm that sounded like approval.

I swallowed the lump in my throat as I stared at the man "Why are you going to the palace?" I asked to get my attention away from the carnage. I just want to curl up and be alone to cry on my own. I want my mama, papa and my older brother. I want my little brother to poke me and say that I was being a sissy with his teasing grin. I want Monique to drag me to the nearest fabric shop to gush about her newest obsession while picking out the clothe she would use for her cosplay.

I want everything to be normal again.

"Why, to watch the performance of the year," he said matter of factly but didn't say more.

I frowned and wiped the tears away from my face with shaky hands. So this was only a form of entertainment for him? All these blood, guts, tears and screams? I knew there were people who enjoyed those kind of violence in the cinema. People who amused themselves by watching horror movies like Saw and Piranha without batting an eyelash at the violence. I admit that I was one of those. However, now that I've seen it before me eyes, not in a cinema packed with people and the smell of popcorn lingering in the air, I can't fathom why I enjoyed such gruesome movies. I felt disgusted with myself.

To continue distracting myself, I asked more questions. "Why are you kidnapping me?"

Markkio didn't stop, but he did turn around to show me one of his insane grins once more. "You do not know what you are," he replied mysteriously. "I suppose it is not too farfetched to think that you were not sent by him, considering your confused state and… ability to fall so easily.."

"What do you mean?" Fall? Did he mean when I bumped into his stupid barrier and fell flat on my behind earlier?

He didn't bother to answer my question. "Do not worry, dearest Claire. All shall be unveiled once we return to her Highness."


In a place hidden away from the rest of the world, a young lady lounged on a plush sofa and gazed at the adult pacing back and forth. It was funny to see the usually calm man lose his cool, but it's been almost more than a week and he was still trying to create a path on the floor with his shuffling feet. It was becoming incredibly boring.

A shadow passed over the dim room and she turned her attention away from the guy on the verge of insanity, to the window showing the outside world. She watched as a great white shark attack a colony of fishes with boredom, her eyes trailing the bloody mess the predator left behind as it feasted while playing with a strand of her dark hair.

When she was young and first came here, the window that showed the ocean had fascinated and scared her. It was fascinating because she was able to watch the fishes continue with their daily lives and scary because the ocean was incredibly dark and had a lot of weird creatures hiding within. She was only able to see the animals if they were close to the hide out that the light of the barrier silhouetted their forms.

Once, when she asked the man who had taken her from the streets and taught her everything she knew, where exactly the place was, he had answered that they were inside the earth. Being the pessimistic street urchin that she was, she thought that he was making fun of her, but it turned out that they were indeed inside the earth.

He had shown her the main room, a place floating on top of the earth's very core. Technically, such a place shouldn't even exist, but it did. Blame it on magic. She never liked being in that room, even if it was the brightest place in the hide out. After all, who would like to see the magma underneath their feet? Not her. She would rather hang out in the darkest rooms.

She was always tense around the hideout, even if she grew up there. There was only one place where she felt safe and it was not her room.

Her favourite place had a small but deep pond in the middle of the room and lovely tropical flowers grew around it. She loved how the sunlight would reflect on the pond or how droplets of water would create ripples on it whenever it rained on the surface world. Too bad she wasn't allowed to be there until that time.

And that time came about a week ago. It was when she was supposed to fulfill her duties and head to the sister world and meet the Magis. But due to unexpected circumstances, a different person was taken in her stead. Not that she'd complain since she wasn't looking forward to the journey anyway.

The room has been locked by a powerful magic since then.

She turned her attention back to the man and wondered if he'll allow her to return back to the surface since her role has been stolen from her and she was technically useless now. As she gazed at his expression, she decided that she'd ask once he's stopped looking like he'd rip someone into tiny pieces before throwing them to the earth's hot core.

He suddenly stopped in his pacing and she watched as he turned around and headed to the glass window that seperated them from the ocean, his long hair flowing dramatically after him like a cape. She vaguely remembered a character from a book she read when she was young, a teacher with greasy hair and a flair for dramatically turning around before walking away from the protagonist. She was a little amused with the comparison her mind created since the character and the man before her had a lot in common.

"This is no time to be giggling, Meira!" the man snapped, on the verge of growling like a hungry wolf.

Meira gave a coy smile in return and kept silent. The man grumbled beneath his breath about stupid apprentices as he tapped the glass with a finger. The world rippled and the scenery changed. Instead of showing the dark waters with its odd predators, it showed a burning town and people slaughtering each other.

The man groaned and searched for the stupid girl who ruined the ceremony. He hoped beyond hope that she was dead, but the fate and destiny decided that they'll keep the girl safe and sound. His eye twitched and he was incredibly tempted to smash his head on the glass wall. Of course she had to get herself kidnapped by that stupid organization.

"Wow, she almost lasted for ten days before she got captured. I'm impressed."

He growled. "Now is not the time for your sarcasm, Meira."

The girl fidgeted in her seat to get a better view of the carnage. "But I wasn't being sarcastic, Nate. She came to that world unprepared, I'm honestly surprised that she hasn't died on her first day."

The man called Nate sighed. "True," he agreed with a slight nod, turning to the youg lady he had trained for over ten years. "I hope that she dies now before it manifests within her. That way, when she dies, you will be able to take your rightful place."

Meira grinned at him. "Wow, I didn't know that you were the kind of person who plotted someone's murder."

"I'm not plotting."

"I'm pretty sure you were thinking about a hundred ways to kill her without living the hideout, being the shut-in that you are."

Nate let out a long suffering sigh. How in the name of King Solomon did the sweet little girl he raised grow up to be so annoying? He turned around and shot her a glare as she bore her little finger into her nose. Honestly, where did his polite little girl go? "You know that should she die now without awakening, we won't have to wait until the next time the barriers break long enough to create a gateway before mending itself?" The barriers were starting to get weaker and if the girl doesn't die before awakening, Meira won't be able to travel to that world. Only one Maverick was allowed after all.

"Hmm, yeah. I think you might want to turn around and see what the little troublemaker is doing," Meira drawled as she flicked the ball of snot away.

Nate whirled around and felt his eye twitch.

"Fuck."


AN:

Another update, yay!

Sorry for the late update, was on vacation last month :)

So anyways, two new OC's are introduced! Also, I know that the weapons dealer was the one who handled with Kassim, but I thought Markkio was a lot creepier than the guy, which is why he's the one who picked up Claire.

And thanks to whitenostalgia for the criticism.

You were asking about Claire's personality. To the people who doesn't know her well, like the cast right now, she's a polite girl who doesn't talk much. Remember that she can't speak their language. However, she has her moments of rebelliousness like everybody else. She isn't timid, but she is insecure about some things. She doesn't like to show her insecurities to random strangers though.

I admit that Claire tries too hard to find the logic in whatever is happening around her, to the point where her conclusions are not logical anymore. The only reason she actually believes she's in a different dimension now is because Judar attacked her directly. In the previous chapters, she just watched the weird things happen, but Judar actually caused her pain and made her bleed, giving her a grand wake up call.

And yes, Claire right now is only an audience. She doesn't have much of a role since she can't do anything. But as you see in this chapter, she wasn't even the person who was supposed to be there.

The tiny monologues of Claire about hair and things that seem to be unimportant were supposed to portray her character better. Claire, being jealous of hair and peoples looks was supposed to show how vain and materialistic she could be.

My story is supposed to be a scattered mess because the protagonist literally has no idea what the fuck is going on, but the story will become clearer once the story progress.