Arc II

Chapter VIII

The Shape of Things to Come

and temperatures she had been exposed to, her feet were covered by a colorful collection of the most diverse infected blisters, the mosquitoes had chewed on her skin over and over again, she hadn't had a proper meal in over a fortnight and her own smell was enough to make her nauseous, Alex couldn't help but smile at the sight she had been waiting to see for so long.

Ever since running away from that filthy dungeon she had felt like each step was pushing her further away from her true home, leading her into the unknown.

The journey from the palace to the southwest region of the realm had been long and challenging – she had had to steal, hide, run, lie and then run again in order to get there. She had seen the two juxtaposed faces of Outworld – the monumental cities and landscapes and also the most desolated, devastated corners of its vast territories. The resemblance was uncanny: perhaps this foreign realm and her own world were not that different after all: she had found nobleness in places that had been clearly held back by the different emperors and by time itself and she had found suspicion and intrigue in the most privileged zones and so she had found herself in moments of deep tribulation, reflecting, during her brief stops along the way, that neither here nor there, nothing was exactly as it appeared to be.

The temple, surfacing now in front of her tired eyes was magnificent, even from the distance. Perhaps that was Black's true offer: sanctuary. The mercenary was never going to help her get back home yet he had provided her with some security after all. Suddenly the never-ending journey from the palace to the Lei Chen Mountains region was worth all the risk and the desperation. The view from the mountainside was spectacular: not only it was a temple; it was a fort. The walled city of Lei Chen was the safest place she was going to find in Outworld – the feeling was overwhelming: entering its walls was accepting that she would never return home; that that place was going to be her place from that moment on.

She approached the gates with eyes full of tears, as if saying a silent goodbye to everyone she had ever loved back in Earthrealm, placed her hands against the cold structure and closed her eyes, trying to find the little strength she had left in her body to knock on the door and finally find out what was there, waiting for her, on the other side.

"You must be Alexandra."

She opened her eyes the second she heard the boy calling out her name. He was standing just two feet away from her. Confused, she took a good look at him: he was barely a teenager but he was significantly taller than her. His skin was olive and he had deep, dark brown eyes.

"Hello. I'm Aalem, I was waiting for you. Mr. Black told me there was a fair chance you'd be joining me," the young boy introduced himself quietly.

"You can call me Alex," she suggested, grinning shyly at him.

"I'm afraid we're not yet acquainted," Aalem corrected her as soon as her words had abandoned her mouth.

An awkward silence reigned over them for a few moments; then the young boy's lips curled up slightly and he smiled at Alex.

"Are you going to introduce me to the rest of the villagers? Are you my guide or something?" she asked him as soon as she noticed that the initial tension that had encompassed them was finally melting away.

"No…" Aalem replied softly as if he was embarrassed by her naiveté. "We're not entering Lei Chen." He blushed as her incredulous eyes raced to meet his. The boy crossed his arms over his chest as he regained his composure; his feet were balancing back and fro, his brown tunic kissing the ground from time to time. "I've been waiting for you, here, for quite some time. He knew you'd come here."

Alex rolled her eyes in disbelief: the agenda was evident.

"So when he said Lei Chen Mountains, he wasn't being literal. Was he?"

Aalem shook his head.

Damn you, Black.

"Come with me, I'll show you the way." He finally managed to say, still visibly ashamed by Alex's misinterpretation of Black's words.

They walked in silence for a few minutes, Aalem guiding her steps away from the temple and into the wilderness of the mountains. The naked land in front of her was burying all possible pre-conceived ideas she had cooked inside her mind. There was no sanctuary; Black's actions were far from being altruistic. After a while they arrived at the lost cabin, almost facing the bay at the other side of the mountain range.

"What is it that you do here? Do you work for him?" A still bewildered Alex asked the boy as she slowly turned around, absorbing the landscape. The boy didn't answer. He produced an old, rusty key from his tunic and opened the door of that Godforsaken place she was supposed to live in from that moment on.

The cabin was small but it looked surprisingly cozy at first sight, with fine, delicate rugs covering the floors and just a few rustic decorations scattered here and there. The main room had two large shelves placed against one of the lateral walls and a big, rectangular wooden table placed in the center – resting carelessly upon the table were a handful of recently-sharpened pencils, several small boxes with the word "ammo" handwritten on one of their sides, an oil lamp, four unlighted torches, a glass bottle filled with what seemed to be water, a couple of dirty glasses and an open scratch pad. Her gaze wandered around her surroundings until it stopped in the pages of the open book. Displayed right in front of her eyes, a graphic - it was like a timetable, with dates and times divided into little boxes. Most of the boxes had been filled with the words "no sightings."

Aalem rushed forwards her and closed the scratch pad as soon as he noticed her curious eyes wandering through the exposed pages, his expression serious – she was clearly edging too close to the truth.

"What is he up to?" she demanded.

"Mr. Black doesn't want me to tell you. At least not until your tail is gone," his gaze was harder now, a palpable distance was set between them; rarefying the atmosphere.

"What tail?" The sense of false security broadcasted by his words was making her nervous.

"The man hiding by the mountainside," Aalem explained solemnly as his index finger pointed at the window.

"Was I followed?" Alex's eyes widened in fear.

"No. Mr. Black was. But the man is still nearby. I assumed he was waiting for you to arrive." The young boy clarified. "You were an easy target for him; if he hasn't attacked you by now I guess he's going to wait for Mr. Black to return. He must be looking for the two of you – together." Aalem moved nearer as if trying to kill the tacit distance between them. "You'll be staying here with me; Mr. Black will come by periodically to check on us – and her."

Alex felt tempted to ask the boy about that her beginning to unleash her curiosity but she refrained from doing so: she could see the boy was cautious, he would not reveal a single detail until his precious Mr. Black would say he was allowed to. She scanned him with her avid eyes: if he was determined not to give her any answers she would have to change her questions:

"You are too young to be so subdued by the orders of a man that's not even here. How old are you, fourteen, fifteen maybe?" Her tone was full of surliness and disapproval.

"I'm Edenian." The boy replied calmly.

"That's not a number."

"That's all you need to know," an obscured smile was curling up his lips but Alex remained as cold and distant as she was – his counterfeit smile was not enough to fool her.

"So he brought me here to keep me in the dark. How clever," an ironic smile set on her face.

"He didn't bring you here," Aalem corrected her – his expression indolent, "you came here all by yourself. As a matter of fact, Mr. Black wasn't entirely sure you'd come at all." The tone of his voice was irksome to her ears.

"He didn't give me much of a choice," she retorted.

"Of course he did. You could have gone everywhere yet you chose to follow his advice," the young boy was gradually starting to annoy her. "He never ordered you to go southwest, he simply suggested a location. Everything you did after he left has been completely up to you." Aalem finished as he offered her a glass of water.

"I wouldn't use the word 'advice' so freely," Alex spat under her breath as she took the glass from his hand. The boy stared at her as she drank the water, a look full of reprobation set on his face.

"I don't really understand what are you complaining about – Mr. Black freed you, then provided you with a safe place, a roof above your head, a purpose and even a companion," the boy was fervently trying to defend Black but his words were only sharpening her curiosity.

"What purpose?"

"Mr. Black said you traded services, as a medical doctor, if I recall correctly."

"I didn't trade anything," she was starting to feel aggravated by the young boy's sense of superiority.

"I'm not the one you should be discussing your contractual situation with," he shrugged, oblivious to her reaction.

"There is no contract," she replied harshly. It was true that she had offered him her help as a doctor but those words had been her plea; she knew he would never accept her help – and also she had only suggested that he could use her medical expertise in case he ever needed it again but he had not accepted it – at least not verbally.

"That's odd…" Aalem seemed to reflect, pensively. "We are his employees, and we're on a mission."

"He's not paying me." Alex retorted.

"Maybe you made a deal different than mine; but as far as I can see your job is way more important than mine," Aalem said, "you see, I may get to tell him what happened – the things I saw and the things I didn't, but you… you get to keep him alive," the boy explained.

"So we're like, part of a team?" Alex asked, suddenly confused.

"No, he works alone," Aalem answered quickly.

Alex placed the empty glass on the wooden table, her incredulous eyes never leaving his. The boy shrugged once more, then grinned softly, as if finally relaxing. "As long as you stay here with us, Mr. Black will take care of everything. Food, water, clothing, weaponry and ammunition, you should make your list," he told her as he approached the table. Alex's eyes were exposing confusion again, so he decided to help her: "Medical supplies, I guess." He offered her a pencil and a sheet of paper.

"Does he come here often?" She asked just as she was about to start writing.

"Once a week, usually. He never stays for more than two days; he's needed at the palace." His words, no matter how kind or innocent, were not enough to hide the fact that Black couldn't stay longer because no one in the palace knew that that cabin lost in the mountains even existed.

Alex began to write down the items on her list, alcohol and clean bandages being her first choices when Aalem's voice interrupted her.

"He built this place himself, you know."

She stopped writing yet her eyes remained fixed on the paper resting on the table. Aalem was trying his best to make Black's dark figure bearable for her, his words getting too close to that infamous frontier separating praise from propaganda.

"He's quite handy, I see," She replied indifferently.

The boy snorted, "he told me you could be exasperating," his calm eyes found hers: "but he also said you were good at what you do."

The poor boy was trying to be reassuring. Annoying, boastful and pretentious as he was, he was actually trying to make her feel better. She breathed out, then turned to finally face him.

"How long have you been here?" Alex asked - he looked so young it was hard to believe that he could have been accompanying the mercenary for long.

"Almost a year. I thought my job here was done after their last confrontation." He was pensive but his words were awakening her curiosity once again.

"You mean when he got hurt?" Alex asked the boy, leaving the pencil aside now, "why didn't you help him?" She was not reproaching him; she was merely trying to understand.

"He doesn't want me to interfere," Aalem replied bluntly as he sat on the floor, his back leaned against the wall.

"The rebel-seekers took him," Alex told him.

"There was nothing I could do."

Alex walked over to him and sat down on the floor by his side. If she was going to spend her days with that kid she would have to choose her words more carefully. She cocked an eyebrow then smiled at him – she was not trying to be condescending; she was simply trying to build a solid, stable bridge between them.

"I'm not a healer, I'm not a doctor. That will be your responsibility in case she hurts him again," the boy spoke tenderly.

"How long have you been working with him?"

"You mean for him," the boy corrected her.

"No, I meant with him," she insisted.

"For him," Aalem corrected her once more, "I'm second generation. My father preceded me. He met Mr. Black when he first came to Outworld; I've known him ever since I was born. He's tough, but he's not entirely a bad person," those words echoed deep within Alex: to her surprise, she could say she agreed to that.

Aalem stood up, visibly trying to make himself busy as an attempt to drift away from all those sad, unpleasant memories about his father.

"What will we do here, all day?" Alex asked him, trying to help him. The boy turned around, his expression resolute.

"I have a duty – I go to my assigned location and wait, then register any possible sightings. You, I don't know. Don't be a bother, I assume," Alex tilted her head at those final words – she was the adult, she could surely find a way to handle things as smoothly as possible.

She stood up and placed her right hand on the boy's left shoulder. Aalem looked her in the eyes, his face serious as if affected by her tender gesture.

"There's one more thing you need to understand – we are not his protégés," he warned her, "we are here because he needs to be at the palace most of the time. If he was free from his duties he would be the one here; not us."

He grabbed her by the hand, longing to break the renewed tension, "let me show you your room."

"I don't think I'll be able to sleep – not now that I know someone is lurking out there," Alex let out as she remembered the stranger hiding in the mountains. She felt shivers running down her spine as goosebumps started to shake her to her very core: no matter how much she hated the idea of having Black around, she tacitly accepted the fact that having him near could make her feel safer. Reconciling with the idea of feeling comfortable around the man would be a whole other matter but acknowledging his skills and his cold-blooded senses were the only certainties she had.

"It's not us they want. Not me anyway. He's waiting for Black – and you." The tone of his voice was so calm and relaxed she found it utterly unsettling. In case of an attack, Aalem wouldn't help them; he would simply remain a witness, a privileged spectator watching the gloomy scene playing before his eyes.

"This is Black's room, isn't it?" Alex asked the second they set foot on that bedroom. Even though it was a small, neat room with just a bed, a chair, a petite wardrobe, and a little wooden bedside table, there was a certain Old West vibe to it.

"It's the only room in the cabin," Aalem explained.

"Where will you sleep?" Alex asked as she sat down on the bed. It was the first time in weeks she was feeling the softness of a decent mattress.

"I don't think I will," the boy chuckled, "problem will be when he's around. One room for three people - I can sleep on the floor but you…"

"I can sleep on the floor as well so don't worry; your majesty can have his bed," she interrupted the boy.

"Unless he invites you to it," the boy's eyes sparkled suddenly. He moved closer and lowered his voice even though it was only the two of them in the bedroom: "He told me you tried to seduce him. I assured him your filtration would not work with me either. I don't really find Earthrealmers to be attractive," his confession was both ridiculous and exasperating, "but I don't have to worry, and neither do you - he said I look too much like a child anyway, that I'd be safe from you," the boy went on.

Damn you, Black.

Alex gave him a puzzled look but it wasn't enough to make him stop.

"He also mentioned that it makes you feel empowered. The flirting."

Alex could feel the warmth in her cheekbones making her blush. What kind of man reveals such private details?

"It doesn't." She replied angrily. "And I'm not interested in visiting his bed if he's in it."

"Good for you," the boy added, "You're not his type anyway. I've seen them all, back in the palace."

Alex covered her face with her hands, "I'm really not interested in hearing that sort of details." She was practically begging Aalem to stop – she was not interested in hearing stories about the cowboy's private affairs, the only thing she was positively interested in was in slapping his face as hard as possible.

"Just saying, your hair – he specifically dislikes red-haired women," Aalem proceeded, blushing slightly.

"Good to know." She tried to cut him off bitterly but the boy was not remotely finished yet.

"Thinking it over, maybe his hatred towards red-haired women has something to do with her, she's red-haired as well, as you, but he has never asked for one while I worked in the palace and I remember, one night, the woman he had requested was indisposed so they sent a replacement; a red-hair. I've never seen him so disgusted…

"Requested?" Alex asked, surprised by Aalem's wording. If he was trying to imply that Black was a recurring consumer of prostitution he could have saved the details, she thought – yet, the revelation forced her to go on. "You mean, like, from a catalog?" Her eyes shuttered instantaneously at the thought of Black choosing women in such a cold-hearted fashion. Even though she had already realized and posteriorly concluded that the man was as far from commitment as humanly possible she still found that image disgusting.

"It's not a catalog, that's for sure. The guards and especially the enforcers can choose their escorts. There are women in the palace whose sole purpose is to satisfy them. These women have a specific person that arranges the meetings and the payments. It's quite simple actually," Aalem explained as Alex rolled her eyes.

"A pimp. They have a pimp in the palace," she was positive Aalem would not understand her, no matter how hard he tried yet she didn't care. The boy gave her a puzzled look then shrugged, helpless.

"Wait here." said the boy as he left the room. He was back in a few minutes, a bag in his hand.

"Tomorrow, first thing in the morning you'll wash and put these clothes on. We don't know when Mr. Black will be here, but you have to be presentable," he informed her as he handed her the bag, "he said you looked like a beggar but he was quite certain you still look like a woman underneath all the grime covering you,"

Damn you, Black.

Alex breathed out loudly, visibly annoyed with the conversation. The boy noticed her gaze hardening as she threw the bag over the bed without even taking a look at the clothes inside it.

"His wounds are healing just fine, but you'll be checking them as soon as he arrives," his tone was more amicable now; he was clearly trying to change the subject.

"Now I feel like I should check him for every venereal disease," her remark was ironic and bitter yet she had somehow meant those words that had propelled from her mouth. Aalem had provided her with information she wished she hadn't heard; now it was her turn to make him feel uncomfortable.

Aalem's gaze hardened as if punishing her audacity.

"Don't be rude or judgmental – he doesn't like that," Alex rolled her eyes bluntly at the unwelcomed remark. Aalem went on, visibly tired of her attitude towards his employer: "the fact that Mr. Black is familiarized with the world of brothels and prostitution doesn't make him less cautious. In fact, he's a very healthy man because he takes really good care of himself," he stopped, his eyes finding her bemused smile. "And now he also has you for further medical advice. So if you consider, at some point, that Mr. Black needs to be checked for any possible venereal diseases, go ahead," the irony broadcasted in both, his look and the tone of his voice were daring, "I'd like to see you try," the young man concluded; a victorious grin full of satisfaction set on his face.

Alex crossed her arms over her chest – if the boy was having a hard time trying to successfully change the topic of their conversation she would gladly do it for him.

"There's one thing I still don't understand," she began, "from a medical point of view, I still can't figure out how his body works. His bones and his muscles, I can imagine. His bones must contain an obscene amount of calcium and his muscles are far from becoming atrophied because of his perpetual physical activity. But his organs – his lungs, his stomach, his liver – even his skin, his teeth, his eyes… how come there's no deterioration?" She inquired the boy, even though she knew the only person that could possibly answer such questions was Black himself.

"Don't try to comprehend things that are simply too great for your mind to assimilate," Aalem said to her as traces of superiority were contaminating his voice once again. "What I fail to understand is why he needs you. If he needs a doctor that means he knows there's a fair chance he'll fail. That's very unlike him," the boy seemed to reflect as he started to leave. Her voice made him turn, however, as an idea set on her mind: perhaps she wouldn't have to abandon all hope just yet.

"You said Black told you I would come here. How? How do you communicate?"

"We don't –" Aalem answered simply. "He was here last week. I know the whole story. He mentioned you wanted him to get you back home. I humbly suggest you abandon such unfounded fantasies: he never will."

His words were quieting all the voices she had inside her head.

"Do you have any more questions?" he asked.

"About a thousand," her voice was almost inaudible now yet her words had reached his ears nonetheless.

The young man shook his head briefly, his gaze consumed by a profound gesture of tribulation.

"Wrong answer," he said after some moments in silence then leaned on the doorway, his features still engulfed by that same pensive trance he was clearly experiencing. His gaze hardened, his vision was now obscured, darkened - "The only question that should be bothering you is what possible future awaits for us both once he captures her. Imagine this: he finally captures her, delivers her to the emperor. People are chanting his name as he walks; triumphal and victorious - they praise him for his brave, noble actions. Behind closed curtains he cashes in the big, juicy reward, even gets a promotion, maybe – What happens with us then? Once we cease to have a purpose - once he doesn't need us anymore. Now that should keep you up all night."