Falias, Finias Chapter Seven
Suggested Theme:
Main Theme- Lark by Au Revoir Simone
After his day in the OverWorld, Kazdan is back in the UnderWorld in his unremarkable but functional attire. In the wee hours of the dingy UnderWorld morning, he mulls about his day in the OverWorld.
I need to return to Kiru City to get that scan of Accato. And I need to figure out if I can bring an old CD player with burned disks into Perim. I brought in my mop that one time, so maybe the same can happen with the CD player. And if it isn't, maybe I can rent one because I saw some players renting camping equipment last Tuesday. He passes by the guards without any fanfare, but he does spare a backwards glance at them.
I wonder if Chaor would sic them on me for hanging out with Maxxor's cousin. He stops mid-step and feels himself break into a cold sweat.
Chaor is the Supreme Ruler of the UnderWorld; he probably has spies in Kiru City! OH SHIT, WHAT IF CHAOR THINKS I'M A TRAITOR!? He begins to shake and looks back once more.
The guards have not moved from their post.
Calm down! If Chaor thought you were a traitor, he would've killed you before you even made it past the gate! He resumes his walk to the back door. He bangs on the door as he normally does and the Ogress opens the door after only one knock.
"There ya are! The babe's been fussing for you since yesterday!" Kazdan's eyes widen at her statement.
Usually, babies are happy with their parents…oh, right, he doesn't really have any. I bet he went through a rotation of babysitters who didn't really give a wit about him. And then I come along, pouring as much worried love into him. Guilt wells up inside him because, even though his mom spends most of the year away from him, she tries hard to make up for that. Like calling him every day to see how he's doing when she's gone; and when she's home, they have movie marathons together.
"I'm sorry." He mumbles, but the Ogress leaves without hearing a word of it. She comes back with the pale babe. This time he's dressed in a black onesie. The babe reaches out to him like he's a shiny toy.
But he doesn't have any shiny toys! All of his toys are made of wood or stone. The babe would chew on the wooden ones, leaving little teeth marks, but the stone ones have scratch marks because of his claws.
He takes the baby who coos contently.
"Was he sick?" She always complains how sickly he was, but I never heard a cough or a sniffle from him. Maybe Creatures get sick in different ways.
"Nah, he's just getting stubborn." Like his father.
"That's good, it takes a lot of energy to be stubborn." He jokes, and the Ogress gives him a piggish snort.
"It's not from the air that's for sure. Since you're here, when you go out, you'll have to come to me for money." Has Chaor decided that it's pointless to pay a human when said human can't even use a bank here?
"Why?"
"You spent your entire allowance in a day." Right, nearly forgot about the Cyrenox incident.
"I didn't spend it on myself; I spent it on saving an UnderWorlder's life." He phrases so nobly. The Ogress rolls her beady eyes.
"You 'saved' Cyrenox who didn't need saving in the first place."
"How was I supposed to know that?" He snaps, loathing how the Ogress expected him to know that. Like a teacher expecting him to know what an iambic pentameter is.
"He was born of darkness and raised in gloom, not much can kill him."
"Except Nivenna and booze, apparently." He gets a peal of laughter from the Ogress that sounds like a warthog yowling.
"Cothica help him if she ever looks his way!" So Nivenna doesn't know? And how long has Cyrenox been in love with her? And is that legal? I guess so if he hasn't been jailed by now. How do ages work here? I know about 'solon,' but I don't know what that is exactly. Maybe the bot knows since he did tell me about the banks in Perim.
"You've been staring into the Pits for a solid minute now." The Ogress announces, causing Kazdan to flush in embarrassment. The baby merely stares at him.
"Oh? I was just wondering…if H'earring is available today!" He quickly says like he's been called on to answer a question that he did not hear.
"He should be. I don't recall Lord Chaor callin' him in this mornin' and he hasn't paid me any visits." She shivers from a lustful memory. He has to use all of his willpower not to gag. The baby gurgles like he's about to puke.
"Great, I was going to spend the day with him, which means I'll probably have to pay for lunch." The Ogress rolls her eyes and pops back into her kitchen to get a small purse.
"Baby's been changed and fed before you got here, so he shouldn't cause any trouble for a spell. Try not to let H'earring to get you to pay his tabs again!" He takes the drawstring purse and stuffs it into the front pocket of his baggy pants.
"I won't!" He insists, but the Ogress gives a tsk like she's waiting for proof. She then moseys back in and closes the door.
"Will I ever meet a Creature that's completely confident in me?" He sighs to the baby. The baby peers at him with his pupil-less blue eyes.
Kazdan finds his way to H'earring's home and wants to pat himself on the back for doing it from memory. But the baby in his arms flares his nostrils in warning that he would throw the biggest fit in his life if he's put on the dirty cobblestone road.
"Too good for your first steps to be in the gutters?" The baby smiles cryptically; his blue eyes filled with an intelligence that no human baby could hope to possess. He knocks on H'earring's door. H'earring opens it and there's a basket hanging off one stubby arm.
"I didn't expect you today." H'earring sheepishly admits.
"Well, I don't have your number, so it's not like I could've called you up." H'earring's squints his eyes and frowns like he's trying to understand another language.
"It was….a joke. So where are you going?" Please, not a surprise rendezvous with the Ogress!
"To the market." H'earring says slowly like that it should've been obvious to him.
"Oh….can we come with?" Kazdan turns the baby's face towards the mutant-rabbit, hoping that the baby's cute face will convince him.
Wait, would the baby be cute to him? If he finds the Ogress hot, then this baby could be repulsive! The baby squirms like he doesn't want to be found wanting.
"…..I guess, but don't expect any excitement. Unless someone is stupid enough to steal from the butcher again." H'earring shakes his head at the memory. Kazdan follows in tow with the baby looking at him again.
It takes ten minutes of walking through the narrow streets before the trio reach the market. Kazdan sees stalls, most of the made from scrap metal, manned by Creatures yelling at other Creatures over their wares. Most of the wares he sees are BattleGear.
"Since you did help me pay off my debts, I'm going to give you a piece of advice that most Creatures wouldn't bother to give you players. If you scan any of the BattleGear here, you will have to pay for it. Merchants hate being robbed of their price gouging more than they hate humans." I should've figured that! Nonetheless, his excitement fizzles out.
"Okay, hypothetically, what happens if I can't pay?"
"Then, you have to work it off." Like in a Dickensian work-house? It was the only thing he took away from his 8th grade Literature class.
"Like a slave?"
"In a sense. You still get to back to your home at the end of the day or night, depends on who you owe money too, unless you offered up your home as payment. But most homes aren't worth that much."
"So does slavery exist here?"
"Not as much as it during the Ancient times. Mass slavery just isn't profitable anymore because it causes revolts and revolts cost the merchants money." Sounds kind of like what happened on Earth where slavery has supposedly been eradicated, but you always hear about human trafficking.
"So it's now small-scale slavery?"
"Legally, slavery is illegal. During the Ancient times, Kaal broke a promise to this UnderWorlder who then led the greatest revolt in UnderWorld history, kicked out Kaal, and became the Supreme Ruler of the UnderWorld." H'earring takes a dramatic pause, but Kazdan can easily guess the rest. And his descendants became worse with every generation until they were overthrown.
"And he then established two laws. First, slavery is forever illegal. Second, his heirs will rule the UnderWorld. The first one was mostly kept, but the second one got broken when Gothos slaughtered the last heir to the throne and took over. Well, until Lord Chaor conquered the UnderWorld." And he'll rule so long as his wisdom is on par with his strength. The baby smiles, showing his sharp little teeth.
"What was the Creature's name that liberated the UnderWorld?" H'earring pulls at his scraggly red goatee thoughtfully.
"I don't know because the Troubadours never mentioned his name. Probably because it wasn't eloquent enough for their pretty songs." Kazdan opens his mouth to ask a slew of questions.
"How about I teach you something that matters? Like the secret to haggling." I'd rather have my historical questions answered. Like when was the Ancient times? Who was Kaal? Was it just the UnderWorlders being enslaved? What's a Troubadour?
"I'm not going to answer all of your scholarly questions; that's what schools are for." Kazdan opens his mouth to ask. "And, no, they won't accept humans."
"…What's the secret to haggling, H'earring?" He bites, accepting that he won't get what he wants. The baby begins to pout like he's been robbed of a toy.
"As you can hear, one form is yelling. It is the most common technique, but not the most efficient." H'earring walks past the BattleGear, and Kazdan follows.
"What is the most efficient?" H'earring does not answer. They go to the next street where the wares have been exchanged for perishables such as food and flowers. Kazdan can still hear some Creatures screaming at each other as they pass by. They reach the middle of the street where there are several butcher stalls. Most of the meat on display are black with rot or fuzzy with green; some are both.
I think I see like maybe two slices of meat that looks remotely clean. Are UnderWorlders immune to salmonella? His face twists like he's about retch, but he manages to swallow his bile down. The baby wrinkles his nose in disgust.
H'earring approaches a stall that contains nothing but black and green meat. The butcher, a Creature as big as the Ogress if she was more muscle and spikes than fat, approaches the counter with a massive cleaver in one hand, which causes Kazdan's throat to go dry.
"Kughar, how have you been?" H'earring smiles like a charming monkey, while Kughar narrows his red eyes in suspicion.
"Too busy for small talk." Kughar grunts and tightens his grip on the cleaver.
"Oh, I thought it was because you were too busy stoking the fires with Dardemus while Chargola was away on his mission." Kazdan does not what stoking the fires means, but the way Kughar's beady red eyes nearly pop out of his head, has him believing it is something shocking.
"…What do you want?" H'earring smiles with his eyes on the prize.
"Two pounds of that gorgon flank, please." Kughar grabs the meat, wraps it up, and tosses the meat on the counter before storming off to the back. H'earring grabs his meat and continues his walk down the street.
"So the secret is blackmail?" H'earring nods like a sage.
"Yes, it is the most efficient when you have dirt on someone that's wanting to be clean. But Kughar has never been truly clean or faithful." Ah, infidelity! Wait, does that mean this "Dardemus" is Kughar's mistress? And who is Chargola? I don't have his card, but maybe I can scan him later.
"But how did you get the blackmail?" H'earring lifts up one ear, and Kazdan feels like smacking himself for the obvious.
"I have big ears and Creatures have big mouths."
"But what if you're a bad listener?"
"Then, you need to be resourceful." His eyes flick over to the baby.
I sincerely doubt showing a baby to Kughar will get me anything. H'earring gestures for Kazdan to follow him. He follows and they walk for five minutes passing by stalls selling moldy vegetables and red lumps that smell a lot like burnt bread. H'earring stops almost three feet from a section of flowers.
Well, I think they're flowers. They have petals like flowers, but they're all dried out from the heat of the UnderWorld in the morning. Some of them have "tongues" wagging for water! Do they steal those flowers from the OverWorld, or are all UnderWorld flowers naturally like that? H'earring tugs on one of his pants legs.
"Another secret to haggling is practice, and what better practice than on the florists. Most florists are weak in the scales for babies because they're like flowers. Delicate and fleeting. So go up to one of them and buy a bouquet of white albus." Kazdan narrows his eyes like Kughar.
"Let me guess, the flowers are for your lover? A lover who only gave me enough money for lunch." H'earring gives him the monkey smile.
"The flowers won't eat up your entire lunch after you haggle!" Kazdan scowls at H'earring's cheeriness.
"Look, if you somehow fail, then I'll pay for your lunch." Kazdan raises an eyebrow. "Dairus really loves white albus!"
"Fine." He finally agrees and chooses the least intimidating-looking florist. The florist he has chosen is a bi-pedal shark with three eyes. The other florists look like a duck dinosaur that could eat him in one bite, while another looks like a Scottish Maxxor with an emerald face-tattoo.
The shark is almost as short as I am, while the other two could stomp on me! But he still pales before his choice, feeling his blood go into his feet. He looks down at the baby who reaches to touch the point of his chin.
Don't be a coward in front of the baby! He puffs out his chest and strides his way to the shark florist. The shark's three eyes widen at him like he's seen Chaor.
It can't be me; there's something terrifying behind me, isn't there? Kazdan refuses to look back, even when the shark begins to shake.
He gets tapped on the shoulder by a sharp claw.
Shit! He turns around and sees Cyrenox.
"Cyrenox…glad to see you're fine!" He manages while smiling awkwardly.
"Thank you. Are you here for flowers?" Cyrenox manages without an awkward smile.
"Yes…..are you?"
"….Maybe." The glowing eyes in Cyrenox's helmet look down into a corner of his helmet. Kazdan can guess who would be the recipient of his flowers.
"…Do you want me to get out of the way?"
"No, no, I actually have something to give you." He watches as one of Cyrenox's black-metal, talon hands gropes around his back to grab something in his back purse. He pulls out several slivers of paper that remind Kazdan of cartoon lotto tickets.
"I can't read." Kazdan admits after squinting his eyes in hopes that would decipher the Creature scrawl.
"Oh…..these are tickets for today's day plays." He hands the tickets to Kazdan.
"Thank you." I don't know what a day play is or even if I'd be allowed to attend it.
"…See ya." Cyrenox leaves without buying a single flower. Kazdan stuffs the ticket into a front pocket and then turns around to see the shark standing scared stiff.
"I'd like a bouquet of white albus, please!"
The white albus reminds Kazdan of a squid; its white petals curl up like tentacles about to snap through water. The baby is holding the small bouquet and stroking the petals with the fleshy part of his claw-tipped hands.
Usually, a baby would try to put the flowers into his mouth. Yet, he's calmly stroking it like a cat. He's so mature for a baby. But is he a baby? He has all his teeth and eats raw meat. But he hasn't talked or walked yet. Is that just how baby Creatures develop? He looks at the baby for an answer, while the baby looks at him also expecting an answer.
"I see you got the flowers, and any reason Cyrenox was there?"
"I thought you were a great listener."
"I am when my stomach isn't screaming at me." He reaches up for the flowers, and Kazdan gently pries them from the baby's curious grip. The baby manages to save one for himself.
"I think he was there to get Nivenna some, but he….decided not to and gave me tickets to today's day plays." H'earring groans loudly like he's bust an eardrum. "I take it they're bad."
"They are, even if you're into theater. Especially the day plays!"
"Why?" If they're anything like middle school plays, then I completely understand.
"Typically, they don't have the budget or talent of the operas and night dramas."
"So you have no desire to take a pair and go on a romantic date with Dairus?" Kazdan looks down at the baby to prevent himself from thinking too hard what would happen after the date.
"Pits no! She wouldn't go unless Melinoë came back from the dead." Kazdan opens his mouth to ask, but H'earring knows him well. "She was the best playwright and actress that Tartarus Theatre ever had."
"…..I'm still going to go to the day plays." H'earring sighs like he's accepted defeat.
"Just remember to get the baby bag before you go; day plays run until darkness falls."
The usher at the doors of Tartarus Theatre, a hog-looking Creature shorter than H'earring and a squalid shade of blue, examines the two tickets for a second and then moves for Kazdan and the baby to enter without much fuss.
I bet he would've taken an hour if this was an opera. He thinks as he enters the lobby; the lobby has black marble-like floors with black columns reminiscent of the columns from the OverWorld. He sees no concessions stand selling popcorn or drinks, but just a wide hallway lit by glowing stones in the torches.
This is gothic beauty, but where is everyone? I don't even see a guard around here! Are day plays so unpopular that the theater owner doesn't bother to hire security during the day? He sees a stone staircase spiraling upwards at the end of the hall.
I doubt my tickets afford me box seats. He walks towards the staircase, figuring that the doors to the auditorium must be near there. He finds twin red doors with iron hoops for doorknobs. The doors are made of wood that remind him of cheap pine board that he used for science projects. He uses one hand to pull on a hoop, opens a door slightly, and slips inside.
The stage is pitch-black, but he can hear the scratches of claws and sets moving around. He looks for a seat and is not surprised to see how unfilled the rows are. There is only one Creature sitting right in the middle, even though he could've easily gone to the cushioned rows and no one would know.
I can only see the back of the Creature's head, but he has red and blue skin with purple armor. If I had to take a guess, it has to be Illazar since he's the only brightly-colored UnderWorlder I can think of. But Illazar doesn't seem like a Creature…refined enough for theater. He freezes in place when Illazar suddenly swings his head around. The colorful UnderWorlder locks eyes with him.
Shit! Do I just leave? He's not glaring at me; it's more like he's confused to why I'm here. Probably because he didn't think a human would ever be in such a place. He nearly rolls his eyes at that. Illazar waves at him to come over.
If I ignore him, he'll probably kick my ass for being disrespectful. He silently sighs and forces himself to Illazar's row.
"Is this the babe's first play?" Illazar asks almost like a friend asking about his day.
"Y-Yes."
"Have you ever been to a day play?" Kazdan shakes his head, still shocked by how friendly Illazar is.
"With day plays, you kind of need a guide because they can be quite….confusing for newcomers."
"Y-Yeah, I've never been to a real theater before."
"Good thing you're starting with a day play because the night ones are very…keen on formal dress." The baby giggles at that, and Kazdan wonders again of the baby's true age.
"So when is it supposed to start?" Kazdan takes a seat on the bench with about a foot of space between him and Illazar.
"When you can see the stage." Kazdan frowns. "See the darkness is lightening."
I can't tell; black is black to me. Oh, wait, I think I see some shapes moving. It takes a minute before the darkness dissipates and reveals a set that looks painted by kindergarteners. The background set has a childish rendition of a stone hut with a field of crops; the crops are sickly trees with a giant red fruit hanging off of the one-branched trees.
I'm guessing they couldn't afford a decent artist and had to use the director's kid to do this. The baby mirrors his dread in a moan.
Five Creatures looking like a cross between plague victims and trolls enter from stage right. They stand in front of the stone house like a family: two of the Creatures have white dreads and are hunched like an elderly couple with two young Creatures tugging at the couple's robes, and then there's a teenaged Creature standing proudly like a hero in front of them.
I bet his goal is to save the family's farm. The hero speaks, and Kazdan scrunches up his face in confusion for it is not English being spoken.
"They're speaking in the Ancient Tongue, so it's not set in the present." Illazar kindly informs him. The Ancient Tongue doesn't sound like Shakespeare, more like Tolkien Orc.
The hero monologues, most likely stating how he'll improve his family's fortunes, and then waves bye to his family. His family leaves, and the hero walks. The set changes like someone in the back is pedaling with a rusty bike chain; the poor farmhouse is replaced with a field of blacken trees. The hero walks for half a minute and then stops when an organ's screams fill the air.
A Creature, wearing a poorly stitched costume, comes out from stage left; the costume reminds Kazdan of a golden octopus with Sauron's Eye dressed as a nobleman. The Creature waves its fake tentacles and causes the hero to spin like he's in a tilt-a-whirl.
The octopus-Creature exits back stage left as the hero turns around to drag himself back to the farm. The stone hut and the family re-appears like a bad flashback. The hero lurches towards them, while the family's smiles turn into worried expressions.
The hero strangles the elderly couple and the children scream bloody murder; the elderly couple falls, and the children run off stage with the hero chasing them. There's more screaming and then two loud snaps. Then, the stage goes pitch-black.
"It's over now." Illazar gives a small clap and Kazdan mimics him. But none of the stage players return for an encore.
"So was there supposed moral at the end of the play?" Like not trust octopus Sauron?
"Kind of; this is based on an old fairy tale about some mind-controlling Creature from the mythic fifth Tribe. The moral is to not trust anyone from the fifth Tribe." The fifth Tribe is mind-controlling rejects from the Black Lagoon? And since Illazar didn't name them, I have a feeling I'm not going to get that out of him.
"Are all day plays this short?"
"Have been since Melinoë's death."
"What did she look like?" Illazar looks at the baby, and the baby looks at him curiously.
"Kind of like the babe, except weaker." He mutters and gets up to leave. "My break is over; I have to go before Lord Chaor has my hide."
"I understand, and thank you." Illazar offers a polite nod and then goes. Kazdan looks down at the baby.
"You want to watch another?" The baby smiles, and he takes that as affirmation. They spend the rest day at the theater.
Author's Comments-
Since the show didn't really get into the flora of the UnderWorld, probably because it was mostly a volcanic, medieval, wasteland, so I decided to make up some flora. I know the cards had some flowers, but I think those were for the Mipedian and OverWorld territory. Also, the flower with tongues was actually lifted from the flowers that Najarin was watering in season three's "Yesterday's Heroes" episode. Considering how Kiru went to the UnderWorld to free the imprisoned OverWorlders and become the UnderWorld's new Supreme Ruler, I bet he actually imported some plants from the OverWorld to try to cultivate some kind of farmland there. It didn't really work, but a few flowers were able to adapt there over time. Like the white albus, which is based on the asphodel.
Also, I get into some sexuality in this chapter because the show since it was marketed for children couldn't get into issues on sexuality. Obviously, reproduction exists for Creatures or else how else would they be born? Yes, Mommark was able to create some, but I view that as akin to something like cloning in the Star Wars universe. I don't think Creatures are rigid when it comes to gender roles because we see plenty of kickass females, though most've them seem to be from the UnderWorld, but I don't know about sexuality. I'd like to believe Creatures are only concerned with sexuality when it comes to arranged marriages, producing an heir, or, possibly, for a religious reason.
Also, the sets lack of artistic skill in the set is a reference to season two's "Chaor's Commandos" episodes. I don't think sketching or painting is a revered art form in the UnderWorld, but there is great-looking art through sculptures and stained glass. Also, the players of the play are just background Creatures in the UnderWorld Coliseum during season three's "Perithon!" episode. Along with some of the florists being background Creatures from that same episode.
One mystery is solved: the Ogress's name is Dairus, which is a reference to the Daniads, also known as Daughters of Danaus, but I also made her name closely resemble Dardemus because they are related. But another one pops in its place: who was Melinoë?
Anyways, planned next chapter is another trip to the OverWorld and we're creeping ever closer to the start of season one!