Chaotic belongs to TCDigital.

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Poison

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"Piabo, hold on!"

It's early morning. My babas have started working already. They left me with Nicolas at home, no doubt expecting me to stay there with him. I have other plans though, and my Human chaperon is struggling to keep up with me.

"Come on, keep up!" I try to keep my voice in a bit of a sing-song tone, like I'm just playing a game. I'm near my destination anyway, though, so I can slow down a little.

Nicolas struggles through the crowd and stumbles up to me, then crouches with his hands on his knees and breathes heavily. His brand new tunic is dark with sweat. "Jesus, Piabo, what the hell are you running for?"

I force a giggle while looking around. Elco said this is where he'd be. I don't know the exact details of what he's up to, yet, but it's never a good thing. Usually a slave trade, though.

"You are early." It's Elco's voice, but it's not directed at me. "I have not finished assembling your package, yet."

My antennae tense. I crouch and head for the voice. Who is Elco dealing with?

A Human. Blonde, kind of sickly-looking. "Fine," he growls as he folds his arms. "Just make sure it's done soon."

Elco is standing next to a wooden crate, looking into it. At the Human's words, though, he straightens and turns to him. "You are in no position to make demands of me, Human," he growls as he looms. "I deal with you because it is convenient, not because I must."

The Human recoils and looks away. "Right, yeah, sorry."

He turns and heads in my direction, and I drop my gaze as he passes. While he's behind me, I hear him say, "What are you looking at?"

Nicolas puts his hands up and backs away from the Human. "Nothing, just, noticing a fellow human, that's all."

The blonde Human snorts and continues on, and Nicolas puts a hand on his chest and takes a deep breath. "Holy shit, Piabo, what the hell are we doing here?"

"Something," I say. I realize I'm breathing fast, and I take a moment to collect myself. Then, I step out into the hall Elco is in and wave.

Elco grins as he sees me. "Ah, little one. It is good to see you again. Have you come for your work and lesson?"

"Yes," I nod. I consider asking who exactly he was meeting with before, then decide against it.

"Excellent." Elco pulls a scroll from the box next to him and holds it out. "I made sure your load was all from the same place, since this will be your first job."

"So others are getting the other stuff?" I ask as innocently as I can manage while taking the scroll and unrolling it.

Elco nods. I'm not sure whether he intended to. "Further down the tunnel there is a chemist. Can you collect those from him and bring them here?"

"Um, how do I pay for it?" Another probing question, though at least an innocent young mandiblor like me should be worried about this one.

Elco grins. "Just tell him Jaqal sent you."

Elco's usual false identity, then. Makes sense, he won't have had time to make a new one yet. "Will do!" I salute, then I turn on my heels and make an exaggerated march down the tunnel, just like any other child.

Nicolas is beside me a few steps later. He's glancing over his shoulder, back at Elco. "...I don't like Jaqal."

The only correct answer to that is that he shouldn't, but I can't say that right now. Instead I just keep marching, humming in time with my steps.

"Can I see that?" Nicolas asks a while later.

"This? You can." I hand over the scroll Elco made.

Nicolas wrinkles his nose as he reads. "Ignoring the fact that this is somehow in English... if I can call this English, anyway, I don't understand a word of this." He looks at me and holds up the paper. "Hey, Why does your world's writing system use the same alphabet as my world? My country, whatever."

I shrug. "Why would I know?"

Nicolas rolls up the scroll and holds it out to me. "Because you're a lot smarter than you pretend to be."

I flinch for just a moment while reaching for the scroll. When I do grab it, Nicolas doesn't let go. He's looking at me, not quite a glare, but very intensely.

"What's going on?" Nicolas asks.

I don't sense any sign of Elco following us, and nobody seems to be paying attention. Still, not a conversation to be having here. "Please wait a moment," I mutter, " just until we're back home."

Nicolas sighs and says nothing else for the rest of the walk to the chemist.

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"I will be with you in a second."

The chemist is an old Danian, mottled patches of dull gray on his loose-fitting shell. He braces himself on a gnarled wooden cane as he rises from where he sits and hobbles over to us.

"Hmm, not the kind of people I usually see here," he muses as he looks up and down at Nicolas and me. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Nicolas stares at the older Danian for a moment, then squeezes his eyes shut and gives his head a light shake. "Hi, my name is Nicolas," he says, extending a hand. "I'm this little guy's... babysitter."

I catch the growl in my throat before it can escape and hold up the scroll. "Jaqal sent me with this!"

The chemist hesitantly takes Nicolas's hand and stares as the Human shakes it. "I am called Jaquez. A pleasure to meet you, Nicolas." He turns to me and reaches for the scroll. "Jaqal, hmm? What does he need this time?"

"I can get them for you," I say quickly. "You must be tired."

Jaquez frowns. "I am not that old yet, little one."

I stomp one of my back feet a little. "I want to help!"

Nicolas's face lights up. "Oh, actually, I wanted the chance to talk."

Jaquez turns to him and tilts his head. "Why?"

"Well, I haven't really gotten to really talk to anyone since we appeared here. We humans, I mean. And, well, I just thought that you'd have the most to share, yeah?"

Jaquez snorts. "Because I am old, am I right?"

Nicolas cringes. "Uh..."

The chemist bursts out laughing. "It is no trouble, Human. Go on, little one, it would be nice to talk."

I grin wide and head for the storage room. I hear Jaquez start speaking behind me, "Well, to start with, in my younger days I was an explorer, making records on lands and people all across Perim to bring back here to Mount Pillar, so I have a lot to say..."

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I have a box mostly filled with Elco's list. Tranquilizers, antidotes, the chemicals a slaver would rely on for keeping particularly troublesome "cargo" easy to deal with. I can't mess too much with these bottles, or he'll very quickly sniff me out, but ruining the potency of a couple bottles could go unnoticed...

I rub my hands together rapidly until they start to burn, then wrap them around one of the wax-sealed vials, repeating whenever the heat fades. After a while, the covering is loose, exposed to fresh air. That'll be enough for this one, a few days like this and what should be a long-lasting poison will fail very, very quickly. I repeat this on a few more vials before covering the compromised items with fresh ones, then lift the box to take it back to the main room.

Nicolas is sitting on the floor as he listens to Jaquez. The old Danian is still talking, the tail end of the story of his adventure in the OverWorld, in a wasteland called Blackstone Desert. I've heard this story a thousand times, for dozens of different reasons. I could say it along with him by now, word for word if I wanted to.

"Hang on," Nicolas interrupts. "I think I've met someone from Blackstone Desert. Have you heard of an UnderWorlder named Atrapol?"

Jaquez's expression goes dark. "The leader of Gothos Phalanx? Lord Van Bloot's man? Yes, he would be one of those from Blackstone Desert. Consider yourself lucky to be alive if you really crossed his path, Human. There are few creatures that walk Perim as savage and merciless as he. Pray you never meet that evil creature again."

Nicolas stares blankly at Jaquez. Whatever it is that's on his mind, he doesn't say it. Instead, he looks back at me. "You're done?"

I hold up the box. "Yup!"

"Let's get that back to Jaqal, then." Nicolas gets to his feet and holds out a hand toward Jaquez. "Thank you for indulging me."

Jaquez takes Nicolas's hand much faster this time. "Thank you, Human. I have wanted for an audience for some time now."

When we are out the door, Nicolas puts a hand on my shoulder. There's a strange look on his face. "Piabo?"

"What?"

"...Nothing." Nicolas lets go. "I can wait until we're home."

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Chaotic belongs to TCDigital.