It's been quite some time! But finally, I have an update. I want to finish all ongoing projects on my profile before focusing on a diferent project, so expect this fic to get updated more often.
Also, I want to thank Mirai_akina for her help proofreading and editing the chapter. It was a lot of work so please go check her fanfics as well, they are really good!
Enjoy :D
The quiet evernight was as calm as it could be in a lonely and dark abandoned warehouse. The place used to belong to a metallurgy company before they went bankrupt, and they didn't even bother to clear most of the stored stock before sending away every employee. Tall containers full of raw metal waiting to be smelted crowded the quiet interior of the warehouse. The silence and calm was only disturbed by a few checkles, coming from the single lightsource in the huge room.
A group of people had gathered around a table, holding cards in their hands while throwing money into the table, betting on some game to pass time. Around them, other people patrolled the warehouse, carrying their weapons close to their chests. The cheer on the table was interrupted when a single money chip fell out of the table and rolled away from its owner, who quickly chased it around the corner. When he finally caught it, a faint, sizzling sound caught his attention. When he looked around, he noticed one of the cargo dock doors had a glowing orange circle forming from the ground. When he finally realized what was going on, it was too late.
"Hey! They fou-" he tried to warn the rest, but a sudden blast of blinding white light followed by a deafening bang silenced his screams.
Before anyone could react, several garage doors were blown open with a blast. The heavy steps of several nasod units could be heard just seconds before the stunned wards were knocked down. Charging with their shields up, the invaders only had to fire a few shots before everyone was subdued. Outside, the sound of several police cars sirens could be heard approaching.
–-
"Raven, what's the situation?!" Elesis yelled on her phone. She was back at Echo's house, where the engineer was conducting her daily interview with the white haired Nasod they found just a few days ago. Everything surrounding her was still a complete mystery, one that they hoped to solve before anything bad happened.
"There have been several attacks on our outposts in the past two hours. Our people have been taken in by the police as well."
"I see. I'll be there as soon as possible. For now, let's start our contingency plan B: Hurricane."
Without further explanation, she hung up and was about to turn to the other two when she found the nasod staring at her, suddenly too close for comfort.
"Something bad happened?" she simply asked.
Eve had been staying with Echo ever since she woke up. Despite their first time meeting going poorly, as they started to work on Eve's drones together, she clearly started to warm up to the engineer. In exchange for parts for her drones, Eve agreed to answer any questions they had for her. Although so far, she had been giving the information very slowly, most likely because she didn't trust them yet.
"Some of our outposts have been attacked. Echo! The truck will be here soon. Get everything ready!" Elesis ordered. The engineer hurriedly started to pack her things, much to the confusion of Eve.
"Eve, get your drones packed, too!" Echo ordered. However, the Nasod didn't move.
"What was that about a hurricane?"
"A code name for the contingency plan," Elesis explained while helping Echo, "Debrian Inc. always defends their stuff with great firepower, however they rarely go on the offensive. It's bad press. That doesn't mean we aren't prepared for the situation."
"The plan implies loading all our assets in trucks and driving around the secondary roads that circle the island. Neither the police nor Debrian Inc. bother to check on those roads too much, so it's a good way to keep our stuff safe until we prepare our next strategy," Echo concluded.
"So… are you expecting me to go into the trucks as well?" Eve questioned. Despite her monotone voice, it was easy to tell she was about to slap someone, "I'm not one of your assets!"
"Eve! I'm going, too! And a lot of other people. It's for your good," Echo explained, trying to calm the situation. But the Nasod remained immobile, her arms crossed over her chest.
"Elesis!?" Both girls asked the redhead. Echo casted a begging glance while Eve glared at her with a growing anger.
"It's ok. Grab your drones, and come with me."
–-
A few hours after the dust from the raid had settled on one of the assaulted outposts, a purple-haired, young girl arrived, wearing her office suit which now had a big tag hanging from her chest, stating her new position.
"Executive Manager Landaar, the operation has concluded," a tall Nasod unit informed as she approached, setting aside its weapons and shield to salute her, "Seven red knights have been put under arrest. We found several crates containing weapons and explosives that have been handled to the police for their destruction."
"What about the others?"
"All the raided places on our first synchronized assault have been successful with similar results. However, our second wave had only encountered empty warehouses. No proof of the Red Knights in there, but clues suggested there was an evacuation."
"Yeah, that was to be expected. We'll have to look for them now."
"Executive Landaar, if I may offer my processed evaluation, we could have attacked all locations in a single wave, and they wouldn't have time to get away."
Aisha walked a few steps away from the Nasod, inspecting the remains of what looked like a poker game.
"A century ago, Sander was divided in many conflicting territories. The most powerful of them all was the Areha caliphate, who owned an army paid with coins from countless merchants," Aisha started to explain, causing the listening Nasod to look at his closed partner with a confused look, "They wanted to crush the Caluso tribes, who had a much smaller army and less weapons. When the Arehan army marched through the sands, the Caluso decided to spread out their tiny army."
"Stretching out a smaller force against a bigger threat only contributes to weakening them even more, and we had enough effectives to attack all known red knight locations with equal strength," the Nasod replied, believing it caught on with her explanation. But Aisha simply shook her head and continued her story.
"The Areha army charged into the enemy. No matter how strong and experienced the Caluso were, they were quickly overwhelmed and forced to retreat. However, before Areha was able to make it to their tribe, they heard the warning toll of their town bells. And as soon as they looked behind, they found the entire city on fire."
"According to our database, humans don't like to be sacrificed even if it's for a common goal."
"They sure don't like it, but there's things that can change that. For example, the Caluso were defending their children and village. As much as they hated it, they had to die for a chance of survival for their families," Aisha finished looking around. She couldn't find anything too interesting or any decent clue, "I won't be making the same mistake. The Red Knights are nowhere near the Caluso on discipline, but they don't have much to lose either."
She went back outside. A line of Nasod was sitting there. Unlike the armed group inside, these ones had a much smaller size, barely reaching Aisha's shoulder. They resembled young girls with bowler haircuts, wearing a white doctor coat and carrying a wheeled case full of all kinds of forensic tools. Hopefully, they would be able to find where the Red Knights were going to hide next.
Her phone rang, and she was surprised to see it was a call from Ara.
"I thought you said there wasn't coverage out there," she excitedly said right after answering the call.
"There wasn't! Things changed a lot over here. There's already electricity in most main roads, and the first phone antenna was finished today!" Ara answered.
Aisha let out a sigh. She was hoping her friend was back from Xin. Her voice sounded a bit cracked, and she could heard lots of background noise as well. However, she could still tell that Ara was excited over something.
"So… Miss Executive Manager Aisha Landaar. When were you going to tell me about your promotion?!"
"Sorry, it was too sudden, and you were already out of town…"
"We have to celebrate it! I can't wait to be back!"
Aisha had to separate the phone from her ear to preserve the safety of her ear. Ara's squeals were not only loud, but they seemed to increase the noise on the call.
"And how's your brother?" Aisha asked, hearing a sigh on the other side.
"He's still working with that organization. I wish he would move to Altera with me and forget about those criminals."
–-
It was a long ride on a noisy bike. Eve had put her drones and their pieces in a bag under the only seat and was now holding onto Elesis's waist while speeding through the highway. The elevated road that surrounded the city was packed today, most likely due to the many trucks that suddenly crowded the roads on their way to the secondary paths. She weaved through the traffic, dangerously close to bumping into every car, causing the stuck drivers to angrily yell behind their steering wheels.
They soon reached an exit that led far away from the city center. The road went from the wide asphalt illuminated by tall lamps to a narrowing road where street lights were really far away from each other. The more they rode into this road, the less buildings they would see on each side of the road. After a while, the tall apartments and large warehouses made way to small houses, some of them even having a small garden and a drive-in garage.
However, what was more surprising was the sky.
Without the huge skyscrapers casting its shadow over the streets and all of the neon lights drowning the sunlight, the natural color of the sky was finally clearing up, leaving the city evernight behind and turning into a beautiful blue with a tint of twilight orange.
They came to a stop in front of a large, two-story building. The facility was covered in vines and dust, making it almost impossible to distinguish the beautiful marble below them. The garden in front was completely unkept, the trees and bushes growing with their roots breaking the drive-in and the grass brown and dry. Even the metallic fence around it had rusted so much it was almost impossible to tell it used to be black.
Eve looked around. Every other house and manor in the neighbourhood was pretty clean and well kept.
"What is this place?"
"It's… my father's old house," Elesis confesed.
She unlocked the front door and stood aside to allow Eve inside. The smell of humidity blew out of the house as the door opened. Each step they took lifted some dust in the air. The furniture was old-fashioned, and it showed water damage on almost every surface.
"When he passed away, my brother and I both left this place and moved to the city. He was a bit of a big shot back then, when things still were good."
"It's… pretty quaint. Just barely better than the back of a truck… barely." Eve said, leaving her things on a shelf and kicking a cloud of dust in the air.
"Hey, it's still our heirloom!" Elesis said with a reassuring smile on her face. She patted the wall next to her as if to show how it was a good and reliable building, but all she did was cause the floor above to creek and drop even more dust, "... You can clean it a bit if you want."
Eve casted a questioning look at her, and Elesis instinctively protected her cheeks. The Nasod flicked her hair and started to open the blinds and windows, letting some fresh air into the house. The main door led straight into the living room, where a large couch sat in front of an empty TV shelf. Its many compartments must have been full of expensive porcelain back in the day. Crossing through the living room with an empty arc was the dining table. Eve noticed how the marks on the floor suggested that a big family used to eat here everyday. The kitchen was in view through an American bar, and to nobody's surprise, the fridge was empty. However, it still worked.
Elesis carried the drones and its pieces to a hallway on the other side of the living room that was connected to the second floor and the garage. There were a few tools still on the shelves and a large object covered by a dusty sheet.
"I'll show you your room," Elesis said, walking upstairs. The second floor was a narrow hallway with a door on each side and a double door at the end. Elesis guided her to the door on the right, and they ended in a room with a single bed. There were marks on the walls where posters might have been and marks on the ground that looked like small wheels, most likely from the skateboard that she found peeking from below the wardrobe. The bed still had its covers neatly set as if someone was going to be sleeping there soon. Eve opened the wardrobe, and the first thing she saw was a basketball shirt hanging on the hanger. She let out a sigh and sat on the bed. Luckily, it wasn't as dirty as the stuff in the lower floor.
"Well, I never thought I'd ever see a girl in my brother's room," Elesis joked, giggling at the thought, despite Eve's lack of reaction, "I should get going now, they must be waiting to hear from me. I'll be back as soon as things calm down."
Eve was finally left alone. She didn't want to clean the house, but she also didn't want to sleep in such a place. She went down to the garage and stared at her drones. There were still many pieces missing, and she could only hope that next time Elesis came to see her, she would bring Echo and more materials. Though, the bare minimum to start the drones was already in place. All she would need to do was get them ready for a temporary activation.
–-
Aisha sighed as she waited for the elevator to reach the level she inputted. Her new office was near the top of the main building, a section of the company that required a special key card to access. The place was quieter than the logistics department since there weren't any other human personnel around. Each level of this part of the building was reserved for a single staff member. As soon as the doors opened, she was greeted by a short hallway with Nasods on each side. On her right, there was a group of armed units, with their common uniform replaced by a suit that made them look like actual bodyguards, and on the other side, there was a group of ladies wearing the classical office lady suit, who all held its own file in hand. They bowed as Aisha walked through the only door in front of her.
Her new office was gaudy, to say the least. With a red carpet under a huge mahogany desk, it no longer looked as empty and vacant as the one before, partly because of the luxurious furniture but mostly because of the Nasod inside. On one side, a pair of her bodyguards sat in front of a huge array of displays which showed the live feed of all the units that had been placed under her command. While on the other, all of the office staff who were waiting for her in the hallway had their own desks. She took a seat on her huge, velvet-red chair and spun around to look at a window that extended through the entire wall. The whole city was below her, its people working without knowing a thing about the dangerous gang that was hiding between them.
A maid-dressed Nasod approached Aisha. She was almost as tall as the armed units and had beautifully long, flowing blonde hair. Her blue eyes had a pretty star-shaped outline that helped break the serious expression she had.
"Master, would you like a cup of tea? Maybe a relaxing massage?"
"I'm good, Scilla. Is the report ready?"
"Our detectives are already working on it. The initial investigation suggested they moved all they had into trucks, but we don't know their destination yet."
"I guess we'll have to wait for now."
She leaned back on her seat and watched the cars on the highway below for a while. After her short break, she decided to accept the offer for her new promotion. Although she knew her bosses wanted her to do something else other than sign paperwork, she still was surprised when they asked her to take command in their fight against the urban gangs.
She didn't question it too much, though. The gangs themselves were a problem for most people. Damaging and stealing their goods was one thing, but robbing transports with guns blazing was just an accident away from killing an innocent.
She thought about it after her first time facing them. Back then, she was scared, and her actions were led by adrenaline. She heard about the Red Knights before and knew they were dangerous, but for some reason, it all sounded pretty distant until she was standing in front of them, defending herself with a weapon she never wielded before.
Not to mention, if she hadn't missed that shot, that redheaded girl would have been badly injured. It could have even killed her. When she prepared the armed units to go after the Red Knights for the recent operation, she asked them to prepare rubber bullets and to avoid the use of excessive force. She used the pretext that she wanted to make sure they would have a chance at cooperating with the captives, but the truth is that she didn't want to have a river of blood under her name. Even then, as Scilla warned her, even non-lethal ammunition can be fatal sometimes.
The monitor in her desk turned on as the sound of an incoming call chimed in. She noticed the name in the screen and looked at the maid nasod. With a knowing glance, Scilla bowed her head and clapped her hands, drawing the attention of everyone in the room.
"Everyone, stand outside of the room while the master attends this meeting," the maid ordered. Without protest and walking in an oddly-ordered line, all the Nasods quickly vacated the office. She finally answered the call, hearing the arrogant voice of one of the Debrians.
"Miss Landaar, I've heard your operation today was a huge success. I'm glad to see that my recommendation wasn't for nothing," he said. His self-sufficient tone made it sound as if he was complimenting himself for picking a useful candidate rather than her plan.
"Thank you, sir. I'm hoping for the second part to start by the end of the day," Aisha answered. She wasn't used to being praised for her job. Ever since she got to Altera, all they expected from her was simply to carry out every task without incident. Of course, the company wouldn't bother to praise every single employee under its direction, but they could at least send a Christmas card or something once a year.
"I must say, you're taking your new task quite diligently. One would be surprised to know that you used to be a logistics intendant or a simple magic student in the past." As he was talking, Aisha thought about what he was trying to get at, "I've been reading your profile since this morning, and despite everything adding up, I still found some strange events."
"Was this the first time reading my record?" Aisha asked. Her boss chuckled for a moment before answering.
"No dear, I did many times. I wouldn't have chosen you as a candidate otherwise. No, I'm talking about the reason you moved to Altera. I get it; it's hard living outside of this city. There's no electricity, no hot water or coffee vending machines… But you were still a successful mage. You could have stayed there, married a Sanderian noble, and lived the good life. Yet, you decided to throw it all away and start from scratch here. Why?"
"Humm, I'm not sure what you mean. You already said why life on the outside sucks…" Aisha answered, and for a short while, she didn't get any answer. Then the doors of her office suddenly opened. A man, or more precisely, a Nasod walked in, wearing a long white coat that looked like a combination of a lab coat and a long, elegant suit and spiky hair that reminded her of a cartoony mad scientist. The main feature of this Nasod was his wide smile full of sharp teeth as well as the mechanical glowing eyes. He had a phone next to his face that he quickly put away once the doors closed behind him.
"I'll be more precise, then. I'd like to know the exact reason why you made that decision. What was the drop that toppled the glass of water?"
"Oh! Chief Engineer Dekal! I wasn't expecting you to come in person…" Aisha excused herself, frantically looking around to make sure everything was looking good. Dekal waved a hand at her to calm down.
"It's alright. We're alone, so you can drop the formalism, but I hope you don't mind telling me the truth. I knew something was off when I read your profile, but the way you've been behaving only confirmed it."
"Hmm… if I may ask… Is it relevant for my job, or is it simply curiosity?"
"I would lie if I said I'm not curious. But it is important as well. You see, I'm looking for people I can place my trust in for a very special project. It's not something I can discuss openly unless I'm certain I know the other person well," he explained. With a snap of his fingers, Scilla entered the room and served a cup of warm tea before leaving without a word. Aisha sat back again, slightly turning her chair to look away from Dekal and stare into the evernight sky.
The sun is hitting the sand dunes in Sander as hard as ever. A group of people is slowly threading across this barren land. They're a group of men carrying all kinds of digging tools and bladed weapons, led by a single, fat man with a curling mustache riding inside of a hand-carried carriage. He looked like a noble, wearing silky robes and shiny gems, while the people holding his small palanquin had barely any clothes to cover themselves, the exposed skin on their bodies covered in sun burns. Yet, all of them followed a single figure, a young and short girl with purple hair, dressed in a white robe and purple skirt. She had pulled the hood of her robe over her head to try to shield it from the unforgiving sun while she walked on the sand with a hand extended in front of her. Hanging between her fingers was a blue pendant that emitted a faint glow. She used her staff to support her steps as they kept climbing dune after dune, stopping at the top of each one to check on the pendant.
Infusing a tiny amount of magic into the pendant would cause it to glow brighter and move gently, as if nudged by the wind. She would wait for it to stabilize and correct their route, signaling for everyone behind her not to separate. There was no life at all in the desert. The few creatures that dared to call this place their home slept during the day, and only the vultures were around at this hour, staring at the group as if they were waiting their turn at a good restaurant.
They arrived at a flat area; not a single thing would protect them from the sun there. She looked back at the people and could see the opulent noble carelessly waving a fan inside his carriage while the slaves carrying it begged with desperate eyes to be out of the desert. She checked the pendant in the hopes that their task would be over soon. The gem spun around in circles for a while, displaying the same faint glow as before. However, it suddenly lifted in the air, pointing towards a patch of sand in front of her. Nothing special could be seen on this particular plot of sand, yet when the noble noticed it, he quickly jumped out of the palanquin, signaling for everyone to get to work. Aisha stood nervously next to the noble while the slaves started to dig under the burning sand. She held the staff closer to her, feeling anxious by the growing pained faces on them as she casted a worried look to the man next to her.
"Is something wrong?" he asked, his fan being vigorously waved as if it would help keep the sun at bay, "Oh, you're worried we might attract sand sharks? It's fine; we have plenty of people to throw at them."
She wasn't sure if he meant they would fight them or if they would be used as bait, yet thar wasn't what worried her. She looked back at the slaves just in time to see them hitting a hard rock. Seconds later, lots of shiny water sprouted from between the sands. The shine on the water was quite unnatural, yet it made the noble start celebrating as if he just found gold.
"What are you doing?! Get out of my magic water before you stain it with your filth!" The noble roared, prompting the slaves to quickly move away, "Get things ready for when we get back!"
With that said, he returned to the palanquin, gesturing to Aisha to follow him. She would rather walk back to the city, but she needed to claim her pay for the day. She sat in front of him in the overly decorated carriage and waited for the slaves to haul them back to Sander City.
"That's a nice spring. That magic water will sell like fire between the alchemists in the coming few days. I have to admit, I was starting to think this expedition was a failure, but you saved my neck girl. Here…"
He reached for his pocket and took out a pouch. He deposited it in her hands with a metallic cling, and she quickly checked the inside. A bunch of golden cois rested inside the silk. They weren't regular gold coins, though. They were much thicker and had several jewels endebed on them. They were Sander reales, a kind of money that only the nobility had, and its symbolic value is much higher than its monetary one. They allowed commoners to get privileges normally reserved for the nobility.
She put the pouch away safely in her pocket and looked outside through the palanquin window. The sun was starting to set, and it would soon be nighttime. She wanted to go home and get the sand off her shoes, but the day wasn't nearly over.
"You know, I've noticed you've been working pretty hard the past few months," the noble commented; he must have noticed the tired look in Aisha's eyes, "I thought mages had it easy."
"If you want to study magic and sit back and relax at the Seven Sages Tower Academy, then yeah. Everyone else had to get things by themselves…"
"Well, in that case, let me tell you about my son. He's coming to age this month, a young and handsome man that could provide you both money and a title," the nobleman started to rant about his son.
Aisha didn't want to offend him, yet she still ignored most of his long chat. She wasn't interested in marrying a good noble. It was a chance that any other Sanderian woman would take immediately, considering the huge advantages it would have, including an entire life free of any responsibility and more money than one could ever spend, but she had other aspirations.
The grand capital of Sander finally came into view. The newly built metropolis had taken over the only major oasis in the entire desert, growing taller than any other building ever had in the desert. From the distance of the sand dunes, she could see the grand palace, the biggest building in the entire city. It was a magnificent build of adobe and sandstone that reflected the orange light of the setting sun, bathing the rest of the buildings in a gold-like glow. Its front yard extended all the way from the palace to the oasis, and taking half of the shore was a beautiful park that only the Caliph was allowed to enjoy. Not too far on the other end of the city stood a set of incredibly tall towers, the Seven Sages Towers. Its thin body threatened to snap if a gust of wind were to blow at any moment, yet they stood tall throughout the years.
There was one more thing that stood out in this city of sandstone and golden twilight glows, a building that stood wide at the outskirts. Its gray metallic walls contrasted heavily with the brown and amber sandstone of the buildings around it, but what was more incredible about it was the huge ship floating next to it. The large Nasod vessel arrived every few days, bringing in tons of gadgets and valuable inventions that the locals traded for the most luxurious and expensive silks as well as all kinds of miraculous alchemic brewings. Aisha stared at the ship as it faintly swayed a few meters above the ground. A large metallic coffin casted electric light all around itself and sported what looked like two huge cannons at the front, mostly for decoration, as no other vessel had ever tried to face it in battle.
"If it's OK with you, I'll be getting off here," Aisha announced. The nobleman looked around and noticed they weren't close to the towers yet. Instead, they were at one of the most infamous streets in the entire city, a place where people with little money or many problems usually frequented.
"Are you sure? I don't know if I feel good about leaving a young lady at such a place."
"Yeah, it's fine. I have work to do here."
With that, she finally got off and watched as the slaves carried the palanquin away. She let out a sigh and got on the move. This street was filled with all kinds of shady characters, from people covered in rags and barely exposing an inch of their face to women showing almost their entire body in the hopes of fishing out some desperate perverts. She avoided eye contact with almost everyone until she reached a narrow alley leading into the backdoor of a large restaurant. As soon as she set foot inside, a woman waiting for her yelled, "You're late! The rest of the girls already started their number! You'll have to attend to the customers today!"
She had so many fur coats and mufflers around her that she kinda looked like a walking coat rack with a long cigarette holder. Aisha sighed but didn't complain. She had to put up with stuff like this every now and then. She looked for her locker at the backstage and started to change into her work clothes. She made sure to cloak her reales with her white robe before putting it inside the closet. Her work uniform was barely a uniform at all, just a pair of baggy, see-through pants that luckily only allowed her legs to show and a top that left too much of her belly exposed. It carried so many hanging golden decorations that she sounded like a cat with a jingle bell collar. She finally put on a mask that covered her mouth with a thin, silky cloth and her eyes with a pair of black empty eyes. Nobody would be able to tell it was her. She finally undid her twintails and let her hair cascade freely over her back. Ironically, it did a better job at covering her body than the clothes she was wearing.
She peeked into the customer area from backstage. The place was a huge pub. A long bar filled with drinking men was built around a round stage where she saw her coworkers dancing seductively, charming all the people staring at them. Those that didn't want to sit at the bar could instead enjoy a large hookah with the little privacy two folding screens would allow.
Aisha usually danced on stage. While it was rather embarrassing, it was better than being with the customers who usually got a bit touchy when they were drunk. Aisha gulped and walked away from the safety of the backstage curtains and into the customer area. She eyed the people, trying to choose who to host for the night. It was quite the lively day at the pub. There were more people than usual, which explained why her boss was so angry. Most of the seats were taken already, and the ones that were empty didn't look like good marks. Aisha had learnt a lot from her time working here from the main hostess, and one of the most important thing was being able to distinguish who had good coin and who was a waste of time.
It didn't take long for her to notice a man sitting alone in front of a hookah, his eyes wandering to the stage from time to time. His white polished clothes and the many jewels hanging on his neck was a good sign, not to mention the shiny, gold coins she was able to spot in a pouch in his pocket. She made her way to the man, whose eyes quickly spotted her.
"May I take your order, sir?" Aisha asked, her words rehearsed, sweet, and completely devoid of care or appreciation.
"Oh, aren't you such a cutie? Of course, sit here for a while, and let's enjoy something. What about the best wine you have?" The man said, propping a large bag of gold coins on the table.
"How impressive!" Aisha commented, feigning surprise as she plopped down on the cushion next to him, "You must be a very successful merchant, sir."
"Oh, I am! The best in all of Sander, my little sweetheart," he said, caressing his mustache, "Call me Dafarr, the greatest armsmith and weapon merchant in all of Sander!"
Aisha signaled for the bar to get Dafarr's drinks delivered while he talked about his supposed exploits. She had perfected the art of pretending to pay attention to what they had to say. The more she let a man talk, the more drinks they ask for. And Dafarr really wanted to speak about his weapons. However, for a magician like her, all this chitchat about blades and maces held little to no interest to her.
"What about you? You do something else other than being such a darling?" He asked, trying to give a seductive tone to his strong desert accent.
"Me? I spend my days practicing dance, sir," she answered, effortlessly crafting up a lie. She never told any of the customers about her real life, and her boss taught her the three big no-nos when talking casually with the type of customers that come to this place: avoid talking about old women, kids, and other men.
"Oh, that sounds so interesting. And what kinds of dances can you dance?" Dafarr asked, moving awfully close to her. He laid a hand on her shoulder, trying to get her to lean closer to him. However, Aisha subtly shifted her body away, prompting him to look in her direction as she pointed at the stage.
"That kind of stuff."
With a few more drinks, Dafarr was starting to sway on his cushion, threatening to fall over at any moment and only managing to stay put by holding onto her shoulder. As she noticed he was starting to move his hand down her side, she quickly stood up.
"It's been nice talking with you, sir, but I have work to do now…" She said as she was about to leave, but he grabbed her wrist before she could walk away.
"Wait, darling. I kinda want to see that dance you mentioned before. It's a pity that the stage is busy tonight. So… why don't we go somewhere private, and you show me?"
"I'm sorry, sir, but I can't really leave in the middle of work," Aisha replied, pretending to be nice and polite, but it was another lie. She knew some of her coworkers usually took some customers upstairs to do unspeakable things with them in order to earn more tips. She could never do something like that, no matter how much they offered her.
As if reading her mind, Dafarr reached with his free hand into his robe and pulled out a huge bag of coins. Golden coins mixed with many Sander reales poured out of the bag as it rested on the table.
"It's fine. You won't need to work for a few months if you'd just indulge me," he said with a sonorous laugh that brought the attention of some people to the pub.
"As I said, sir, I can't really do that-" Aisha tried to free her hand, but someone else grabbed her by the shoulder. She quickly turned around to see her boss, "Madame?"
"Now, now… Dear, I'm sure that Mister Dafarr is feeling tired after enjoying our exquisite wine. It's perfectly fine if you want to excuse yourself for a short while to let him rest in our rooms upstairs," she said. The tender and sweet tone she used was a heavy contrast to the rotten and twisted woman that hid under her many fur coats.
Aisha was about to lose her patience, ready to snap out at her boss, when she heard a loud thud followed by the sound of money dropping on the floor. As she looked at Dafarr, she found him with his face buried in his own money, snoring heavily.
"I guess all that wine was too much for him," Aisha commented, finally being able to free herself from Dafarr's grasp and quickly retreat to the backstage. Her boss quickly followed behind her after retrieving the money Dafarr owed the pub for the drinks.
"Aisha, honey, what happened there? You totally had him under your thumb!" She protested with a tone that failed at concealing her anger.
"I'm sorry boss… but you already know I wouldn't do that…" Aisha excused herself. She removed her mask and walked back to her locker. It was almost closing time, and she shouldn't get involved with another customer at this hour.
"Oh, by the El… Aisha, you're such a cute girl. So youthful and heartwarming. Many men have offered me mountains of gold for a night with you-"
"I don't want mountains of gold, especially since what they want is… that!"
"Dear, I took you in when you were desperately looking for a job, and I've been teaching you all I know. Yet, you've been wasting chance after chance. So many good men of both noble and merchant origins had been coming here just to seek you out, and yet you continue to deny them."
"If I was looking to become a housewife and do nothing in life, I wouldn't be looking for a job like this in the first place!" She protested, "As I promised, tonight is the last day I'll be coming in. Now, if you can give me my money and spare me the life advice, I will be on my way."
"Yes, of course. Take your filthy money, and abandon Madame like every child has! Uuuh…!" she cried out loud, throwing a bag of Sander reales at Aisha's feet. She kneeled to pick up the spilled money while rolling her eyes at her boss's melodramatic reaction.
Changing back into her own clothes, she left the pub right away, not bothering to say goodbye to anyone. Not like anyone would mind. She counted the money she had in her bags and finally hugged it close to her chest with a wide smile on her face.
She finally arrived at the tall towers, heading straight towards the central one. Even this late in the night, the tower's gardens were full of mages practicing magic. The inside of the tower felt larger than what it looked like from the outside. The center of the tower was an empty space surrounded by a spiral staircase that nobody used since you could easily take one of the levitating elevators. A flat, stone disk with beautiful colored pebbles floated up and down the tower for the students' convenience. This tower was known by some ancient, traditional name, but since it was the house for all the mage students of the Seven Sages Towers, they simply nicknamed it "The Rooster."
Like the outside, the interior of the tower was bustling with activity. It was as if the sun had never set for the academy students. Not only were there many who needed to wait for nighttime for some of their activities, it was that time of the year when people are cooped up in the library, fervently studying for final exams. Some of them greeted Aisha as she walked by. Being so popular around the academy made Aisha tremble. If any of them discovered where she was just a few minutes ago, they wouldn't be looking at her the way they were now. She didn't waste time joking around with her colleagues and headed straight to her room, barely holding it together.
She noticed the door to her room was unlocked. Other than her and the school preceptors, there was only one person who would have the key. She got in and quickly closed the door behind her, surprising the person inside. A girl no older than her, wearing a ragged robe, was in the middle of her room, casually cleaning the floor with an old broom. She looked behind her with her eyes wide open as if she was a startled deer, causing her overgrown, blonde hair to flick over her shoulders. Her emerald gaze quickly relaxed once she noticed Aisha, and she put the broom away to greet her with a bow.
"Master Landaar, welcome home," the girl nervously said, causing Aisha to giggle.
"Anri, we're alone. You don't need to speak like that."
Aisha pulled out the coin purse from her robe and waved at Anri to come closer, dropping the bag of shiny coins on the table with a loud clang. Surprised, the slave girl stared at it while Aisha took one to bite it, proving it was true gold.
"It took a really long time, but I finally did it. One hundred Sander reales."
"Master Lan-... huh, I mean, Aisha, that's incredible! But, are you sure about this? You could get a lot of good stuff with this for yourself!" Anri said, bundling the bag back and storing it in the magician's wardrobe under a secret compartment with the rest of the valuable coins Aisha had been gathering the past few months. Aisha put her robe away and slowly made her way to the small balcony, sitting on the railing and letting her legs hang over the edge. Anri quickly moved next to her, feeling a bit anxious about her master falling down.
"What could be better than this, Anri? Look," Aisha pointed at the docked Nasod vessel in the dockyard, "That ship will be departing tomorrow, and we'll be aboard on our way to an amazing place. Did you know? There's no slavery over there, and people have machines that do almost anything for them. There's no scorching sun or battering sand, either. If you're too hot, you simply press a button, and your house gets colder. If you're hungry, you can use a device to have food delivered to your door, and you don't need to carry an oil lamp around. You can get your house illuminated with the clap of a hand."
While Aisha excitedly explained to her friend for the hundredth time about what she knew about the island in the sky, Anri was carefully holding her shoulders, just in case she would slip from the railing.
"I talked with them the last time they came, and they say they're always looking for people who can use magic since almost nobody up there can. Not like they need it, but it works for me."
Anri finally let go of her shoulders and instead wrapped her arms around Aisha's waist. She rested her head on the magician's back while letting out a long sigh.
"Honestly, you've done so much for me, Master. I feel terribly bad for not rejecting it… Not just this time, but every other time in the past. When we met, and you gave me your key so I could hide in your room. When you took me to see the wandering circus, and we had to sneak out through the sewers. Even that time they were going to throw me at the lions for the nobles' entertainment, and you poisoned the animals…"
"Those were not only great memories," Anri continued, squeezing Aisha tighter in her arms, "They were precious experiences that someone like me would never have lived if it wasn't for your generosity. You made me feel like I had a place in this world where I wouldn't be hated just for being born… So, I can't ask you for anything more than that. That's why I want to know if you were sure about this."
Aisha finally stepped down from the railing and dragged Anri back inside.
"Let's go over the plan… Tomorrow, first hour in the morning, the Slavemaster will arrive at the tower to check on the slaves. That's when I'll speak with him to buy you with my money. After that, I'll use the pretext of an experiment to package our stuff and head for the dockyard. Once we're there, I'll show them the document I was given last time. They'll let us onboard, and in a few hours, it's goodbye to Sander."
"Aisha… you should go to sleep. You have a long day ahead tomorrow. I should get going now. They'll start asking questions if I'm not in the slave's quarters," Anri said.
She made sure to tuck Aisha in bed before blowing out all the candles in the room and leaving, slowly closing the door. However, Aisha was like a kid on the day before a school trip. No matter how hard she tried, her eyes were totally open, fixed on the ceiling until, at some point, she couldn't hold on any longer and finally fell asleep.
The next day came fast. She darted from her bed, nearly forgetting to get dressed, and retrieved the money from her secret place. She knew the Slavemaster would be at the base of the tower already, and she didn't want to spend a single minute more than necessary in this city. As soon as her elevator hit the ground, her eyes detected a tall and slim man wrapped in oversized white robes with a turban that covered almost his entire head. Next to him was Anri, but she didn't seem to be very happy. Aisha wondered if she was pretending to be gloomy for being sold off, or if…
"Sir, I see you have everything already prepared," Aisha said as she approached, causing the man to turn to glance at her.
"Ah, Aisha Landaar. It's such a pleasure to see you today," he said, opening his arms as if he wanted to give her a hug. However, she didn't move an inch as soon as he started talking, "Now, about that little… transaction we agreed on."
"Yes… I have the money. A hundred Sander reales, as you requested."
"Well, about that…" he started to say. Aisha didn't need to hear more to know he was going to try something, "I just received an interesting offer… oh! Speaking of the devil, Lord Dafarr!"
Aisha's eyes sank as she saw the fat weaponsmith entering the building, followed by a group of his personal guards. He marched with his chin tall and didn't pay any attention to her. He either didn't recognize her, or he was too drunk to remember last night.
"Oh my. Is this the sweetie you mentioned?" Dafarr asked, staring at Anri as if she were a piece of meat served for lunch on a breadless day.
"Hey! What the hell is going on? We had a deal!" Aisha complained, dragging the Slavemaster by the sleeve.
"Aisha, honey… I know we already talked about this, but this man made such a generous offer. I had to accept it. He's paying ten times your price, after all!"
"How dare you offer her! You knew I was going to pay for her today!"
"Aisha please… I'm running a business here. But, don't worry," he said, kneeling to whisper in her ear, "I have plenty of other girls you can get. If you're so into young ones, I have them, blondies as well!"
"I don't want another girl! I want Anri!" Aisha screamed, prompting the Slavemaster to back away.
"Ah! Your voice sounded familiar!" Dafarr finally said, "You're the girl from yesterday, aren't you? You're into this kind of stuff, huh? That explains how you managed to resist my charms yesterday."
He made a pause to laugh at his own joke, or at least what she thought was a joke.
"Hey, I'm a generous person, so what about this? You join me as a concubine, and I let you play with that slave. I don't mind having a deviant on my harem. Hell, it may even spice things up a little…"
Hearing that made Aisha finally draw her wand. The Slavemaster quickly ran behind Dafarr's wide belly, while the weaponsmith raised his arms in an attempt to calm her down.
"H-Hey, what do you think you're doing with that?" He said, while his guards were already drawing their swords and loading crossbows.
Aisha waved her wand in a wide arc, causing sparks of blue magic to erupt from the tip, which floated towards the ground and erected a tall wall of ice between her and the guards. She quickly grabbed Anri by the arm and ran away while the guards tried to tear down the ice. They knew exactly where to go. Inside the tower, at one of the corners of the base, was the entrance to the sewers, one they used many times to sneak out. Before her chasers could catch up with them, they flipped the opening and disappeared inside.
"Aisha… What do we do now?!" Anri questioned once they were sure nobody was following them.
"Change of plans. We're going to board that ship with or without completing the trade."
"They'll soon realize we're down here…"
"Yeah, and these sewers don't reach all the way over the shipyard, either. We'll have to exit near the palace and walk above ground from there."
"Aisha… if we turn around now, they may forgive you, and…"
"And they'll take you away!" Aisha complained, stopping to look at Anri. She hadn't noticed, but the slave had tears all over her face.
"That's… It's fine Aisha. I can endure it. I'll be happy knowing you're alright."
"Don't say that, Anri! I… I've been working so hard for this… I can't believe that scum tried to trick me. If I had the chance, I would make him pay… But for now, all I want is to get you to safety."
Their chat was interrupted when they heard the sound of a metal slab falling into the water. Their pursuers must have entered the sewers as well, prompting them to resume their run in silence. They finally reached the exit and cautiously checked their surroundings. A slave and a mage coming out of the sewers was guaranteed to be suspicious at best, no matter how they tried to make their entrance onto the streets subtle.
"How are we getting aboard? We left our luggage…" Anri whispered. They had made it past the palace street and were now on the suburbs. They were close enough to the Alteran airship to hear the hum of its engines.
"I have the permit with me. I'm glad I brought it just in case."
Aisha suddenly pulled Anri to the side of the road, landing them both behind an abandoned carriage. A group of armed men walked by with hastened footsteps.
"Pay attention, everybody! Those two may be hiding anywhere. Make sure they can't leave the city!"
"They surely work fast…" Aisha complained to herself. She noticed the low balcony of the house next to her and decided to use the abandoned carriage to climb it. The buildings around this part of town were mostly poor and tiny, completely overlapping with one another and making a decent path across its ceilings.
"Anri, you go first. I'll be behind you," Aisha ordered. She watched as her friend carefully climbed the carriage and jumped into the low balcony before climbing the carriage herself.
She was getting ready to jump to the balcony when the old roof of the carriage caved, causing her to fall with a loud creak. The group that passed them before turned around to found her crawling out of the dust cloud that came from the old wood.
"There they are!" one of them yelled. In a matter of seconds, everyone was running her way.
Aisha lifted her wand, quickly chanting her spell and creating three fireballs around her staff. With a waving motion, she hurled each of them, blowing the chasers away and splashing fire and embers over the hot sand. The smoke prevented the enemies from daring to cross the crackling embers. Seeing that, Anri leaped from the balcony and pulled Aisha with her. They managed to find a narrow alleyway between two houses that they had to cross by sidewalking. Once on the other side, they tried to make a run for it. The walls of the shipyard were already in sight, but Aisha quickly noticed that Anri was starting to slow down.
"Are you alright?"
"My ankle… I think I got hurt jumping from the building," Anri mentioned with a pained expression. While Aisha was about to take a look at it, the slave suddenly pushed her away.
Aisha saw a bolt fly mere centimeters away from her face, the guard that shot it standing on the other side of the street. She pointed her wand at him, and before he could prepare another shot, a bolt of lightning erupted from the magical stick, arching all the way until it struck the attacker, causing him to shake before falling unconscious onto the ground. She checked around for more enemies, and luckily they were alone again. However, when she turned around, she found Anri on the ground. Before she could help her up, she noticed a crossbow bolt on her chest.
"Anri!" Aisha shouted, falling next to the slave. She stared at the piece of metal piercing her chest. It barely moved as the slave tried to breath, blood flowing from the injury and staining her old rags. "W-What do I do?!"
She was a top student at the academy, and she worked really hard for this. But now, for the first time in a really long time, she didn't know what to do. She felt her legs shiver as she froze in place. The life of the poor, innocent slave was slowly fading away in her hands.
"A-Aisha…" Anri tried to speak. Her voice sounded like a sigh, as she could not breathe without a sharp pain tormenting her chest, "It's alright… just go."
"No!"
"What I… said yesterday… those things…" Anri tried to explain. Her eyelids felt heavy, and her voice was starting to crack, "I-If I die now… I won't have any regrets."
Aisha fell silent for a moment. She gently caressed Anri's cheek, causing the slave to smile at her. She wasn't prepared to see her friend die. She worked very hard for this, and she didn't want it to end this way. She pointed her wand at the injury, despite not knowing any healing magic. Looking back, this was a really bad decision on her part. Still, she was prepared to do the only thing she could come up with to stop the bleeding.
"I-I'm going to freeze your injury, Anri. It's… going to hurt a lot."
The slave tried to nod and simply clossed her eyes. Her hand wavered for a moment before Aisha finally held it tight. She poured her magic carefully, and a blue stream of sparks enveloped the bolt and suddenly began glowing intensely. Anri let out a scream, clenching Aisha's hand deathly tight before her strength faded. Aisha quickly pressed her ear against Anri's chest and heard a faintly beating heart.
"She passed out from the pain. She's alive," she said to herself. She repeated those words as she lifted her and continued to walk towards the dockyard. She finally reached the iron walls and saw the entrance where two tall men dressed in long, black coats watched everyone coming in and out. She dragged the injuried Anri to them.
"Please! My friend is hurt! She needs help!" she begged. She didn't know it back then, but those two guards were Nasods from Altera. After seeing her carrying the slave, they exchanged a brief look and finally said to her, "Miss, do you have a permit to pass?"
"Wha-... Yes, I do, but please, this is not the time!" Aisha said while she struggled to reach her paper without putting Anri down.
"There she is!" A voice suddenly screamed behind her. Aisha turned around just in time to see another bolt flying straight towards her. However, the Nasod next to her moved lightning fast, catching the projectile with its hand just a few centimeters away from Aisha's nose.
"Gentlemen, this area is part of Altera consulate. Any more hostile actions will be met with the use of lethal force. We recommend withdrawing and bringing the appropriate inquiry during your next visit," he threatened, his calm and resolute voice clashing with the large machine gun he pulled from under his coat, forcing the assaulters to slowly walk away.
Aisha finally handed the papers to the Nasod and waited in a seemingly endless silence as the machine quickly scanned the document.
"You may enter. Take the injured woman to the medical bay inside the ship, and she'll receive emergency treatment there."
Aisha finally stood up and walked around her chair. Dekal had been waiting for her story to finish, his sharp smile never leaving his face. Aisha's eyes wandered off into the distant buildings below her office until her gaze rested on a tall white hospital. Its large "H" neon sign covers all of the surrounding buildings in a red hue.
"Anri almost died back there. The bolt pierced her lungs and several blood vessels. If I hadn't freezed the injury, she would've bleed out. However, I also caused her to fall into a coma. I couldn't do anything better," she said, banging her forehead on the glass, "Doctors say there's always hope, but… I don't even know what she'll feel about me once she wakes up."
"My, my…" Dekal said, finally standing up and heading for the office door, "That was quite an interesting story. I guess I should share mine with you now… Please, Executive Manager Landaar, follow me."