Glass and Demons


The Undermarket was an old subway station, from the days when subways actually ran under Chiaroscuro. A scattering of still working essence powered lights cast dim illumination around the irregular shaped plaza. The people who came there came armed, or with bodyguards. Everything was for sale there, stolen goods, illicit services, even pain (most often the pain of someone else).

Near the offices of the Guild factor, an old man had rolled a food cart close to a wall, under one of the brighter of the essence lights. His cart had only three seats bolted to it, and at the moment all three seats were occupied providing no reason for anyone to come close.

Mina sat on one of the outside seats, drinking a tall glass of shochu: distilled buckwheat. She had her serpent-sting staff with her and wore a black, trimmed in gold, cheongsam, longer than those she usually favoured.

Meep sat beside her, dressed in a manner more local, wearing a long cloak over loose silk pants, and a silk shirt that left her mid-rift bare. Somewhere hidden under clothing was the black artefact that could become her bodysuit, her paired black widow razors, and likely whatever else she managed to conceal.

To the other side of Meep was a man who had just joined them. Slim, handsome, of average height, dressed in a grey suit. His skin was tanned, dark brown hair with a hint of white at the temples, a neatly trimmed goatee. Had he been mortal he could have between anywhere between thirty and forty.

Leaning up against the cart beside him was a staff, covered in a sheath of the same material as his suit.

"You young ladies are a sight for eyes that have too long been denied your delightful countenances," he said, smiling, as the cart's owner placed a glass of shochu in front of him. His accent was odd, with drawn-out vowels.

"Charming as always Tristan," Mina said, drinking back the contents of her glass.

"Hi Tristan," Meep said. She had a cup of tea in front of her.

"So, I take it from your summons that there are matters which you wish to delineate."
"We found most of the pieces, but we need a detailed map of the Undercity."

"We thought you'd have one."

"You ladies do me far too much credit."

The old man placed bowls of goat meat, cut into strips and fried, in front of them and then went back to his small grill, tossing chopped vegetables onto it.

"Can you get us one, cause otherwise, we are going to have to go after Flau."

"Ah, Flau, and his sworn brotherhood of able and loyal protectors. Five terrestrials. It would bring you great delectation to execute them, would it not my dear Mina."

"Yes," Mina said, her lips twisting into what might almost be called a smile.
"I can kill them all, not a single essence flare," Meep told him.

"And you do not think that perhaps the death of a sworn brotherhood of Dragon Bloods, massacred, apparently by mortal hands, would not attract some attention? I believe that I made it explicit that attracting such scrutiny would be ill-advised. It would be manifest to anyone that looked that a Night Caste was behind it."

Mina leaned over Meep, so she was closer to Tristan. "We are aware," she said. "As we know that you have not been completely clear with us."

"I am at a loss to apprehend the point you are trying to make Mina."

"You know what we are looking for, and you know where it is. You would have to, but you have sent us on all these hunts for bits and pieces. What is your game?"
Tristan smiled.

Mina frowned, and she thought she might take a swing at the man, but she felt Meep's fingers take her hand under the counter.

Calmly she told him, "We have been working on this and hit a wall we are not able to just knock down. Tell me what you know, or Meep and I are done."

Tristan reached into his jacket and removed a cigarette case of beaten silver. He offered it towards both Meep and Mina, both of whom shook their heads in response. He fitted one of the cigarettes into an ivory holder. After lighting the cigarette and drawing in a lungful of smoke, he said, "There are facts that you need to be cognizant of, when looking into the affairs of Sidereals, to understand the complexity of my actions." As he spoke, the smoke flowed from his mouth and drifted above his head.

"First of all, I know less than you fancy. I have an inkling of what we seek and a very approximate idea of where it might be found, but in all honesty, I suspect your work has given you a clearer notion as to where it might be than I.

"Second, the truth of the situation is that the only way a secret might be maintained is if only one individual is aware of it. However, a true secret is always available to Jupiter and those that serve her, and as I do not enjoy a positive relationship with those individuals at this time, I do not wish this information to be available to them."

"So you have already told someone. You can tell us as well."

"That is in fact true Mina, but there is another axiom that a prudent Sidereal always keeps in mind, and that is two people are a conspiracy, three people are a conspiracy with a traitor amongst them."

"You're paranoid," Meep told him.

"Likely that is a fact, but I am also alive and successful, whereas others who have endeavoured to tread a similar path to mine are currently dead, so please allow me to keep things, for the moment, as they are."

Mina said nothing, then waved her hand to attract the cart owner's attention and pointed to her empty glass. "We will need a map."

"And I cannot get you one."

"And that all leads us back to Flau."

"Sadly that may be the direction that we must tread." He paused. "However, on thinking of this, there may be another approach. There is, among the ruins of this city, an old office that belonged to the Chiaroscuro Transit Authority, fortunately outside of the old central administration section, for had it been otherwise it would be molten glass."

"And why would this office be of any use?"

"It would be a location in this city to find the maps you desire at this moment, and it is protected well enough that the material in question may have remained untouched."

"How is it protected so well?"

"While I cannot say for certain, having never visited the location myself, testimony from survivors, often delivered in a panicked and pained tone, has suggested demons. Now, do keep in mind that I did not interview any of those survivors, and the last time anyone attempted to plumb the depths of that office, as it were, was almost fifty years ago."

"Demons?"

"Demons."

Mina leaned back on her seat. "Normally not a problem, but this place in inside Creation, right?"

"That is, in fact, the situation."

"Damn. This puts it on your shoulders Meep."

Meep smiled at her. Mina felt her heart beat race slightly, or perhaps she imagined it.

"So I either assassinate some demons keeping my essence damped, or I just sneak by 'em all, pick some locks, and steal what I need."

"It may be harder than dealing with Flau's dogs," Mina told her.

Meep gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "It'll be fine."

"If you do manage to exterminate all the demons it might profit you to remove everything of value," Tristan told her. "Otherwise it will look somewhat anomalous."

"I'll look around. If there's a lot of good stuff there, we can go back later and get it all." She smiled again at Mina. "It'll be fun."

Mina nodded. "It will be."

Tristan signalled for another drink, perhaps giving them a moment of privacy.

Mina leaned forward to gently brush her lips against Meep's. It was a quick motion, but one that left Meep looking pleased.

"You are sure the maps are there?" she asked Tristan.

"I am as certain as I can be, having never visited the place myself. However, considering the nature of the work of the Transit Office, their need for detailed maps of the underground is almost guaranteed."

"Your decision Meep," Mina told her.

"I'm going, I'll get the maps."

Tristan took a drink from his glass, put it down and said, "Then it appears as if our next course of action is decided."


Meep wondered if demons got bored.

Crouching in a small bit of shadow up in a corner where wall and vaulted ceiling met she watched a pair of Blood Apes look about the vast room. She gave them a moment or two of thought. How long had they been there? Did summoned demons get to trade out with others? She was a little uncertain about the nature of sorcery, well, a lot uncertain, but she supposed that one demon was as good as another. As long as they were protecting the place they had been set to protect, it should not matter if it was the same demon initially summoned.

Pointless bit of meandering thoughts, she decided. The demons were not likely to tell her. She could ask Tristan maybe, the next time she saw him if she remembered.

The Transit Office had been easy enough to enter. The upper levels were ruins, but underground it had held up well enough. She had squeezed through the broken remains, into an old access tunnel that had led her to a door. It had been rigged with an alarm and locked, neither of which things had slowed her much. There had been a demon standing guard beyond, but it had not seen her.

Like a ghost, no, even quieter, she had made her way through the lower levels, where once people had worked, away from the public facade. There were tools there, strange devices long ago used to maintain the underground transit system. Likely worth a fortunate and quite useful, if they could be liberated.

Today would not be the day for that. Today no demons would meet their ends at her hands. Today she was the thief of her first life and not the assassin the nature of her exaltation sometimes required her to be.

Below her the demons moved away, knuckling forward on their heavy hands. Once they were gone, she descended from the ceiling, on a thread of black spun from the very outfit she wore. When her feet touched down silently on the glass floor, the thread was absorbed back into her clothing.

The room looked to be some kind of armoury. Buff jackets and breastplates, made of or with the steel hard Chiaroscuro glass, lined one wall. Beneath them were crossbows, fed from rotating drums. She wondered for a moment why transit workers might have needed such things. She also calculated the value of it all in her head, and the result made her smile.

She padded across the floor, to an office, the steel and glass furniture within still in good shape, even after centuries of time. Locked cabinets were not an obstacle, the picks she needed flowing from her black suit, flowing back when she was done.

Most of the paper within had gone to dust, or was brittle and broke when touched. Meep began to worry that any maps that might have been there would be in similar condition.

Then she found the plate of crystal. She knew what it was, having seen such things even before she had exalted. Crystal books, storing their contents in the crystalline structure and readable by using one's fingers to scroll along its length.

She did so, running a finger, the material of her suit flowing back to leave the digit bare, across the smooth surface. Old Realm characters flashed by, as did diagrams, and oh yes, most certainly a map.

Smiling she tucked the book into a pocket that formed in her suit, then went in search of more.


The sake was sweet, strong, and Mina drank a mouthful before putting the clay bottle down. She rested in the shadow of a cracked tower, half of it collapsed, the other leaning off at a severe angle. Amazing it had not fallen after all the years since the Usurpation and the Great Contagion.

Across from her shelter was the broken mound of glass that had once been the transit offices. Meep had gone in there at sunrise. It was now close to noon, with the sun overhead beginning to bake the ruins.

If Meep did not come out by the time the sun had crossed passed its Zenith Mina might go in herself, to the Yozi's Hells with the noise it might make or attention it might attract.

Her musings on rescue were interrupted by the appearance of a woman, walking along the broken road. It was somewhat odd to see anyone in such a place; while not one of the most dangerous spots in the city, there were threats. Most people avoided such ruined areas, unless in a group, or well able to take care of themselves.

While Mina herself was aware of the dangers of judging by appearances (knowing she did not look that dangerous) she thought the woman did not appear to be the sort who could take care of herself.

She looked plump, with rounded limbs and large breasts. She wore a dress with a skirt that brushed her knees and left her arms mostly bare. Clunky ankle boots with a short heel that were probably decent enough for the terrain. She carried a parasol with her, and a large bag hung over her shoulder.

Cafe-au-lait skin and blonde hair, and, Mina saw as the woman turned to look at her, blue eyes.

"Hellooo there," the newcomer called out, waving, then starting across the broken ground. "Fancy meeting a fellow scavenger here."

Mina made sure her serpent-sting staff was close but made no moves towards it. "Good afternoon," she said.

The other woman stopped a good ten feet away, a distance respectful enough, and not threatening. "I'm Del Pret, and, by your hair and your delightful dress, you would be Mina."

Mina relaxed slightly, for she knew the other woman, by name and reputation, if not before by sight. "I've heard of you. You brought in that wagon of artefacts about a month or so back."

"Yes," she said, smiling, "that would be me. If you are looking to purchase any though, I'm afraid that they all sold."

Mina smiled and shook her head. "No, I was not."

"That's good to hear." She looked about. "My dear, far be it from me to advise another scavenger, but you aren't thinking of making a trip into that are you?" She turned and pointed towards the ruins of the transit building.

Mina brought a finger up to her face and tapped it on her lips. "Cannot say for certain."

"Oh, no, you shouldn't. The place is dangerous. Strange beasts prowl those ruins."

"You have been in there?"

Del Pret looked shocked. "No, no, no." She shook her head. "Certainly not, but I've heard stories of those that have, or from those that knew them, for supposedly no one has ever gone in and come out."

Mina smiled. "Someone has to be first."

"Not the likes of us my dear. No, not us." She shook her head again. "Still," she shifted her shoulder, so her bag moved and with the movement a clunk of something heavy, "we can do alright with a sharp eye."

"Care to join me for a drink Del Pret?" Mina asked, relaxed.

The woman looked up at the sun, then shook her head. "Too early in the day for me dear, and I have lots of work to do. Need to get back to my workshop and fix up the little darlings I found today."

"Don't let me keep you then."

"Of course," she said, and turned as if to go, then turned back. "You will remember what I said, won't you Mina? To not go in there."

"I will do my best not to forget."

"Good. Good. Well, must be off then." And that time she did turn and leave, walking along the road with a swing of her hips, and the occasional half stumble as her shoes proved not wholly up to the terrain.

"She's a character," Mina said softly.

"Do you like big breasted women Mistress," Meep asked from behind her.

Mina, having grown used to Meep showing up as if from nowhere did not display any of the surprise she felt and managed not to spin around. "Pardon?" she asked Meep.

Meep was sitting in the shade, Mina's jug of sake in her lap. "Do you like women with big breasts? I think I saw you staring at Del Pret's bosom. Her bottom as well. I know," she ran her hand down her chest, from neck to abdomen, "I'm not so blessed."

Mina smiled, Meep, in her second skin of black was beautiful, and she said as much. "I have always found your breasts and other assets more than up to the task. And it is not as if we need you to nurse a hungry baby."

"I am glad to hear that Mistress," Meep answered, smiling back.

"Now you naughty thing," Mina said playfully as she walked over and dropped to sit beside Meep, "you have better not been wasting time, hoping to make me worry." She took the sake jug from Meep.

"Never. It just took some time to get what we needed." From a pocket in her suit, she drew forth six crystal panes. "Crystal books."

Mina nodded. "I've heard of them. Never seen one before." She took one and looked at it. "How does it work?"

"You run a finger along it, up or down, to move the text. A little like flipping pages in a book."

Mina did as Meep said and watched at the information scrolled across the surface.

"If you keep up at that one it'll show you a section of maps."

Mina paged through the information until she found the maps Meep had mentioned. After looking them over for a few minutes, she said, "Good. Let's head back home. We can go through these in detail and start making plans."


The Field of Gold, a mile wide section of rolling, golden glass, remained one of the places in the city that was left empty, with no attempt made to build upon it. Unlike other sections, this had nothing to do with Shadowlands or lands tainted by the energy of uncapped demanses. It did not even have to do with the area being too far from any useful part of the city.

Even during the colder times of the year, by midday, the field was baked blistering hot, and no one but the foolish would try to walk on it during the day.

Attempts had been made to break the glass, to clear it away, at least in small areas, but the golden glass remained inviolate to whatever forces the people of the city might bring against it.

In its own way, it was a testament and reminder to the great things accomplished in the First Age. A testament that brought in the curious, who wished to see this wonder. There was always something of a carnival atmosphere around the field, as tourists and those that sought to make a living off them gathered.

Mina walked along the edge of the field. She had seen it before, but every time she came to look at it she was amazed and a little humbled, wondering about the world of the First Age.

She wore her customary cheongsam, today's white, with silver highlights. The lighter colours in deference to the bright sunlight. She was making her dressmaker in Chiaroscuro rich she knew. Feet in slippers, her serpent-sting staff left behind (carrying Orichalcum weapons openly in public places was asking for trouble). She was carrying a seven section staff made of ordinary wood and steel, for not having a weapon could also be asking for trouble.

Beside her Meep walked along with a carefree step. She wore a pale green sundress that dropped to the middle of her thighs and a white, wide-brimmed hat against the sun. Strappy sandals on her feel 'shuff shuffed' against the road with each step. Her Orichalcum spiders were hidden somewhere on her body, ready to scuttle down to her waiting hands as soon as she needed them.

Mina envied her friend and lover those weapons, except for the fact they were spiders. That was just creepy.

They passed a small group of several children and adults, most of the adults looking like guards, except for one with a scholarly look, his dark clothing and cape apparently uncomfortable in the late morning heat. And it was only the last days of months of Wood, Mina thought.

The scholar's words reached them as they passed, "...knows what happened here. However, when the Anathema were finally defeated by the Heroes of the Dragons, the entire sector was reduced to molten glass, as you see. I suspect the Anathema lost control of their stolen power when they tried to resist the power of the Dragons."

Mina's jaw tightened, and her hand right hand dropped to touch the end of her seven section staff.

Meep's cool fingers reached out and touched her bare arm, and Mina took a deep breath, calming herself. "Thank you," she said softly.

Behind them, one of the children asked, "But why's all the glass here gold when it's not gold anywhere else?"

Hope you choke trying to answer that, Mina thought but pressed on, not really interested in hearing the scholar's answer.

A short time later Mina stopped and looked towards a food stall. "I am going to get us something to eat."

"Okay," Meep said. "I'll be waiting over by that building."

"Stay out of trouble," Mina told her with a smile, then walked towards the stand.

A young woman, her hair pulled up in a scarf, a greasy apron over a faded dress, tossed strips of lamb into a pot of hot oil. She wiped her hands on a piece of cloth and asked, "What can I get you, Miss."

"Two of the wraps," Mina told her.

She watched the woman spoon rice and vegetables onto flatbread and then finely diced fried lamb. After sprinkling the contents with oil, she rolled them up neatly and wrapped them in faded but clean cloth. "Here you go, Miss."

Mina dropped a bit of silver into the woman's hand and then took the food, walking towards where Meep waited.

She passed a group of Delzhan, young men, roughhousing and daring each other to run across the Field of Gold. They paused as Mina walked by, appreciative glances, noting her weapon. One of them, wearing a grey sash, stared a little longer, a little harder than the others.

When Mina had passed by their conversations started up again where they had left off.

Meep was sitting in the building's shadow, her hat resting on the ground beside her.

"Here you go," Mina said, handing Meep one of the wraps.

"Thanks."

Mina stood, while Meep remained on the ground. They ate their food, Mina watching Meep take small, precise bites, chewing several times before swallowing. Mina bit off larger chunks, chewing and swallowing as if she thought someone might take her food away: a by-product of older brothers she supposed.

It was a melancholy thought, and she hardly tasted her food as she ate it. Meep was still working on her food when Mina finished. Mina used the cloth wrapper to clean her hands and wipe at her mouth.

Stepping out from the shadow she took a few steps forward, up onto a hump of golden glass on the edge of the field. Mina could feel the heat through her slippers, and in the air around her, but it would be a sad chosen of the Sun who would be inconvenienced by that.

"Towers, hundred of floors high, aircraft swooping between them, the whole city lit up at night. What do you think it was like when we ruled?" she asked softly.
"Well," Meep said from behind her, "you don't know if whoever had your power did 'rule' here, and, how'd you know I wasn't in charge?"
Mina smiled and turned to look towards Meep. She held her hand out.

Meep folded what remained of her wrap in the cloth, grasped her hat, and jumped to her feet. She took Mina's hand, putting her hat on at the same moment. With a gentle pull, Mina had Meep up on the glass beside her.

"So tell me, Queen Meep, how do you envision your kingdom?"

Meep leaned in closer to Mina, still holding her hand. "Well, first, all my people were happy and productive, for they knew they were under the gaze of the Unconquered Sun during the day, and that in the night, I watched them."

"So you were a Night Queen," Mina said, gently rubbing her thumb over Meep's knuckles.

"I was," Meep said with a nod, the brim of her hat flopping a little. "Beautiful and terrible."

"Watching them from the darkness."

"I wasn't a pervert," Meep told her. "Well, she probably wasn't."

"A pleasing difference from you," Mina said, giving Meep's hand a gentle squeeze.

"I'm not a pervert. I'm a collector."

Mina smiled, shifted her hands, so her right held Meep's hand and her left slid around her shoulder, pulling her close. She whispered in Meep's ear, "Am I going to have to punish you for lying."

Meep stiffened in her hold for a moment, then said, her tone soft, "I suppose you might call me a perverted collector."

Mina laughed softly. "So Queen of Darkness, where was I in all of this?"

"You were my pet tiger, kept for when violence was needed," Meep said.

"Oh ho, so I was the pet? This Queen of Darkness must have thought well of herself." She shifted her hand, took a lock of Meep's hair and gave it a gentle tug.

"Well, she was a Queen, and her Dawn would have just been a General," Meep said.

"Just a General?" Mina's fingers traced along the soft skin of Meep's throat, where she often wore her collar.

Meep, not dissuaded, continued with, "March the armies out to focus an enemy while all the enemy leaders are assassinated behind the main lines."

"This Night Queen was clever."

Meep nodded.

"Thank you," Mina said.

"You're welcome, Mistress."

Mina, happy, looked out over the Golden Field. "Can you get through that?"

Meep shook her head. "It's not a door or a window, it's just a thick sheet of nearly indestructible glass. We're going to have to go deep and come up under, just like we thought."

"I was hopeful that we'd have the option."

Meep shook her head.

They stood there for a time before movement caught Mina's gaze. The Delzhan she had seen earlier, the one with the grey sash, had run out on the glass and was heading towards the centre.

"Foolish young men," Meep said.

"That one is a woman," Mina said.

"A Dereth," Meep said, "and he'd," she stressed the word, "wouldn't appreciate you suggesting otherwise."

"Are you lecturing me?"

"No, just reminding you."

Mina shook her head. "I do not understand it."

"That's why I'm here to help you. Strange customs and cultures don't throw me as much."

"I suppose," Mina said, stepping from the glass and helping Meep down. Taking her hand she walked along the edge of the field, looking towards the dwindling form of the runner, wondering if she, he, was going to make it.

A wind whipped up from the west, carrying a smell of the sea, a tang of salt. Mina lifted her free hand, the cloth from her food blowing in that wind before she released it to drift over the golden glass.

"Your big bottomed girlfriend is following us," Meep said.

"Pardon?"

"Del Pret. I saw her at one of the stands."

"She could just be purchasing something, and she is not my girlfriend, at least not yet."

Meep pursed her lips into a pout, and Mina laughed. "Well, we will have to keep an eye out then, in case she is following us." She gave Meep's hand a gentle tug. "Let's go and review those maps. I want to go either tonight or tomorrow morning."