Yay! Meeting new characters is fun. So, we're starting to get a bit further into the story and stuff so hopefully more exciting things will happen soon.

I hope you guys enjoy it. I'm definitely having fun writing Altor, I hope you guys like his character just as much as I do. (he's a bit different from the show so...yeah)

Chapter 11

THE CITY OF DESPAIR

In the morning, after everyone was up, they continued their journey and no one seemed to notice just how upset Rue seemed to be. She was walking silently with Mytho and he just stared straight ahead, nothing showing on his face of what he had learned the night before. It was normal for him to look like that but what was unusual was how Rue seemed to be dozing off on his shoulder WHILE they were walking.

She was exhausted. After her nightmare she couldn't go back to sleep and she cried for the rest of the night into Mytho's shoulder. He didn't mind. He didn't even understand why she was doing what she was doing but he knew it wasn't something good. He wished so much to know what it meant. He wanted to be able to share her pain or even understand it but he couldn't and if he could feel he would feel sad.

Duck felt much better in the morning however and she was able to walk the rest of the way by herself even though Fakir kept on telling her not to exert herself too much cause he didn't want to have to carry her again. She was able to see the city better from where they were and it looked exciting and mysterious at the same time. Fakir thought it looked depressing and dangerous but he kept his thoughts to himself. They didn't need to know what he thought and he didn't plan on letting them know.

Pique and Lillie were still trying to wake up when they reached some train tracks about an hour later. They were rubbing their eyes and yawning and just whining about having to wake up so early.

"Why did we have to get up so early, again? The sun wasn't even up yet," Pique asked.

"We can travel further when it's not hot outside and we were out in the open. Perfect for an attack," Fakir said as he studied the tracks.

"Wow, you think of everything, don't you Fakir?" Duck asked, looking up at him with wonder.

"Think like your enemy and right now our enemy is Drosselmeyer. If I was him I would have waited for us to fall asleep then attack. We'd be unprepared and easy to catch, it's just that simple," he said with a shrug.

"Oh, I would never have thought of that," Duck said.

"You wouldn't have thought of leaving that stupid circus if it wasn't for me," he said and looked down at her. "You're welcome."

"Oh, thank you," she said and smiled.

He rolled his eyes and stepped onto the tracks. He looked down as far as he could and groaned.

"What is it?" Duck asked.

"I have no idea what we should do. We could follow these tracks and hope we find a small town or something or we could just continue to cut through these big fields," he said and shook his head. "I don't know which would be a better choice."

"Why?"

"Well, it's unlikely that there would be a town this close to the city so we might end up walking further than if we tried to get to the city but then again…" his voice trailed off in thought and Duck also thought.

"Well, we are already headed to the city so let's just keep going that way," she said and smiled up at him. "It's the best I could think of."

He looked down at her and thought for a few more moments. She could be right. Sometimes simple things are better than complex things. She had shown him that many times and they seemed to work pretty good…so far.

"Okay, we'll just continue to the city," he said and stepped off the tracks.

As he began walking away he felt Duck catch up and walk beside him, sort of skipping but not quite.

"So, what are you going to do when we get to the city?" she asked.

"We're going to see my adopted brother at his shop and see if there's any way to stop the Raven. I know it seems pointless but if the rest of the city isn't going to try and save itself then someone might as well try," he said.

"Who's your brother? Is he famous or something?" Duck asked.

"He sure as hell should be but because of the Raven inventers go through more crap than a manure sails man. He can't get his shop off the ground and because of freaking Drosselmeyer kidnapping me I couldn't help him," Fakir grumbled. "I was going to go to the mountains to get stuff for him and also to get away from the Raven's rule for a while but…you know the rest."

"Oh, that's horrible," Duck said.

"I've been through worse. It's nothing to get upset over," he said, staring straight ahead, his eyes showing he actually was really pissed. (when is he never pissed) - million dollar question right there.

"I'm sorry," she said and looked at him.

"What?" he wasn't expecting that and he looked down at her. He half-expected her to suddenly grin at him and say something like a dumb kid would say but she was very sincere. Her eyes were full of compassion and it was obvious she really did feel sorry for him.

"I'm very sorry about what happened to you and your brother," she said and grabbed his hand, squeezing it comfortingly.

"Uh, you…you should feel sorrier about your own life," he said and wiggled his hand out of hers. "We can cope in the real world but you, you have no idea what's in store for you at the city."

"Okay," she with a small grin. "I trust you."

There was that word again. Trust. Why did she have so much of it? How could she ever trust anyone after what she had gone through? He didn't understand her and he wasn't sure if he ever would. Girls were a mystery and even worse she was part animal/part bird. Animals were another huge mystery to him and he wasn't sure just how he would handle anything like her. A girl and a bird, two big mysteries mixed together. No wonder she continued to surprise him.

They all walked for another how-the-hell-should-I-know-how-many-hours until they finally got to the city. Up close, it was even bigger than Duck had imagined and she stared at the tall metal buildings in awe. A world of metal machines and buildings. It was something that Duck could never dream of in a million years and as they made their way deeper into the streets the darker it seemed to get. It was very much like Gotham City…only worse in more ways than one.

Number 1: no Batman.

Number 2: the sky wasn't just covered in clouds daily, they were also thick with smog.

Number 3: the buildings were falling under disrepair and many looked like they were about to fall over.

Number 4: there really wasn't one but give Fakir time…he'll think of something.

Well, as it seemed the deeper they got into the city, the meaner and ruder the people became. They would push other people, they'd yell at each other for no reason, they'd get into gangs and beat up people who were alone and they also seemed to notice the strange little bird-girl. Several times people stopped her and poked at her and laughed and some even plucked a feather or two. She got scared very quickly and if it wasn't for Fakir scaring them off with his sword she could have been mobbed.

"Take my cloak Duck. Hide your back and your head. We don't need any more morons picking on you," he said as he put his sword back.

"Thanks," she whispered shakily.

She took the cloak and put it over her shoulders. It was huge. It dragged on the ground a good six inches and the hood kept falling over her face but she didn't complain. She was very grateful to have something keeping her from getting hurt that she didn't care if it had a few problems and Fakir couldn't help but be amazed yet again.

Finally they got to the shop where Fakir's brother worked and he opened the door for the others to go in. Because he was the last one in he didn't have time to warn them about Miss Edel, the counter lady. She was a mechanical person. She was one of his brother's inventions and she took care of the store for him so he could be downstairs tinkering.

"Hello, how may I help you?" a sweet but obviously fake voice asked from the machine.

"Quack!"

Miss Edel surprised Duck to the point that she hid behind Mytho and Rue.

"What is that?" Mytho asked, almost uninterested.

"Oh, that's Miss Edel. She pretty much runs the shop," Fakir explained as he stepped forward. "Hey, Edel, tell Altor someone's here to see him."

"Of course Fakir," she said and turned the top half of her body to a strange box on the wall.

"Don't tell him it's me," he said quickly.

"Of course Fakir," she said and pushed the button.

"Yeah, what?" an annoyed voice said.

"There's someone here to see you sir," she said.

"Who? Why?" the voice asked. "I'm busy."

"Yep, that's Altor. Too busy for his own brother," Fakir said loudly enough so his voice would be heard.

"Holy crap! Fakir!?" the voice asked. "I'll be right up."

The machine turned back around and grinned at the tall boy.

"Altor will be with you shortly."

"I think he figured that out Edel," the voice said but from the doorway to her left. Altor walked through the door with a strange looking screwdriver and a weird magnifying thing on his head. "Dude, it's been like forever. Where the hell have you been?"

The one thing Fakir wasn't too thrilled about seeing his brother again was the hug. He hated hugs and ones by his brother were just awkward.

"I've been…kinda stuck for the past month," Fakir said and pushed the tinkerer away.

"Stuck? Where? I could have helped you out if it was like a ditch or something," he said and laughed at his own joke. "Man, if you were seriously stuck for a month in a ditch that would have been the funniest thing to see in the world. You would have been so pissed."

"I wasn't stuck in a ditch Altor. I was stuck in a circus. I literally couldn't leave," Fakir said seriously.

"That's heavy," Altor said, his smile fading.

"Heavy?" Duck asked, peeking out from behind Mytho.

"Whoa, hey. Sorry, I didn't see you there. Are you looking for something or…"

"They're with my Altor," Fakir said.

"Big family. You've been busy," Altor said with a grin.

"Shut the hell up Altor," Fakir said grabbing his shirt. "You and I both know I hate it when you joke about things like that."

"Couldn't resist," he said, pushing his glasses up his nose. "So, who are they?"

"They're also from the circus," Fakir said, letting his brother go. "We all escaped together."

"You should have seen it," Pique said. "I totally destroyed the place."

"It was amazing," Lillie squealed.

"If it wasn't for Pique's mistake, we probably would still be there right now," Rue said and smiled. "Hi, I'm Rue. I can tell you right now that a small child with green hair will be operational soon."

"You mean Uzura?" Altor asked and looked at Fakir. "How did she know about Uzura?"

"She's a fortune teller. She's sees the future," Fakir said with a shrug. "So, how is that kid coming? Last time I saw her she was just a frame."

"She's almost done. I just need to add some gears here and there and a voice box and she'll be ready to work," Altor said proudly.

"Took you long enough," Fakir said.

"Hey," Altor said, looking hurt.

"I see that business is a bit slow, isn't it?" Fakir asked, changing the subject.

"Bit slow? You're kidding right? It's come to a complete stop. This town has gotten so bad that I have to put booby-traps everywhere so nothing gets taken. It's like every week someone tries to break in," Altor said. "I wanted to leave a long time ago but…I can't. I can't seem to actually get myself to leave this place."

"It isn't because of Dad is it?" Fakir asked.

"I think so," Altor said.

"Is your Dad making you stay?" Duck asked.

"No, he's passed away but he left me and Fakir this shop in his will and I just can't bring myself to leave it," Altor said.

"You might have to though," Fakir said.

"Why?"

"The reign of the Raven is almost over and the entire kingdom will be destroyed. We'll have to head to the mountains if we want to survive," Fakir explained. "However, I would first like to read up on him. I want to know if perhaps there is some way to stop him from completing the final countdown."

"Yeah, good luck with that. I seriously doubt you'd find anything on him," Altor snickered. "He's got a stern hold on all the education systems and any book about how horrible he is or how to defeat him has been destroyed. There's no way you'll get any info about him."

"It doesn't mean he can't try," Duck said sternly, poking her head out from behind Mytho.

"Who are you? You keep on poking your nose into our conversation," Altor said, looking straight at the bird-girl with a bit of distaste.

"Leave her alone, Altor," Fakir said turning the inventor away. "Her name is Duck, don't you dare laugh, and she has no courage. She gets scared easily and she's actually a lot smarter than you could possibly give her credit for. So lay off."

"Wow, a bit protective aren't you? Is she special to you or something? Maybe a bit of a crush, Fakir?" Altor said, raising his eyebrows up and down.

Fakir had a hard time restraining himself from hitting his brother but he was able to keep his hands to himself.

"We'll talk about this later Altor but right now we need to get them somewhere out of sight because we just might still be in danger," Fakir grumbled. "I know I sound paranoid but I think Drosselmeyer is still after us."

"Drosselmeyer? Who the hell would name their kid Drosselmeyer? That's the dumbest name I've ever heard," Altor said.

"But he's just as cruel as the Raven," Fakir stated.

"And even more insane, if that's even possible," Pique said.

"I think it's possible," Lillie said.

"You'd think bringing people back from the dead is possible," Pique said, rolling her eyes.

"It might be," Altor said thoughtfully. "There have been studies that show if the right amount of…"

"Don't start Altor. We have no time for it. We just need to blend in a bit more because right now, we stick out like a sore thumb," Fakir said and started pushing the others to the stairs.

"Right. Oh, before you do anything I should tell you that the people next door had to move out so I connected the two buildings…underground of course, but at least you've got some extra rooms to chill in," Altor said quickly.

"That's perfect," Fakir answered.