Chapter 49: Kior

 

Sairek looked onward in awe as they neared Kior city. Though they were to dock soon, the city had not come into view until recently. However it was not the sheer scale alone of the city that had awed him; rather, it was an extremely large circular dome that shimmered like the surface of water was around the entirety of the city that awed him on top of the ridiculously large scale of said city that he could make out on the horizon. It was like looking at the Masirean continent itself; but if every inch of the continent had been populated with large, tall skyscrapers of buildings and other man-made construction.

“What is that… dome?” Sairek asked quietly to Varhi as the group of four stood side-by-side together, waiting to disembark once the ship docked.

“The anti-magic field.” Varhi commented.

Sairek blinked, unsure if he heard correctly. “The, the… What? Anti-magic field? What do you mean?”

“Magic within the city is not allowed, except by select individuals or and a few select items, like bags and the like; mostly any magic weapons, like certain crystals, are banned. If you try to release your ethereal into a spell, it gets absorbed. Do it too much and the authorities will get notified.” Varhi explained. “It is supposedly done to lower crime, or some crap. There’s probably some truth to it, but I think the real reason is to prevent any natural disasters from happening due to all of the magical and mechanical machinery that is in the city, as well as to suppress all of the demons.”

“No magic…?” Sairek stammered in horror. He was liking the idea of going here less and less. “But—” He began, looking at his staff, and then down at his jewel.

“Relax, like I said, it’s the spell casting itself. Magic items are still okay, so anything to hold items, or weapons will still function fine; as long as you don’t cast magic.” Varhi warned him. “That said, things like my boots still get by the field, while things like the enchantments on your clothes are going to be suppressed and useless inside of the field.

“I’m not sure about this…” Sairek mumbled.

“It’ll be fine.” Varhi tried to calm him. “Besides, it’s not like we can turn around anyway.”

“...Right.”


The city was even more grand as they got closer. Sairek could see large objects floating and flying through the air occasionally within the inner parts of the city, which he could make out beyond the opening between the tall skyscrapers. It looked so tightly compact together… nothing at all like Marid. He really was extremely far away from home right now.

After a few minutes, the boat slowed and prepared to dock at a port made out of steel and other metals, as did the other vessels that were part of the group of ships. When the ramp extended, the four of them as well as other soldiers began to descend down, and Sairek took his first steps into the city, walking off the metallic dock down onto the ground, which was concrete. He looked up to examine the buildings which towered him, and it was much the same. Various metals and various stones such as sandstone, granite, marble and many others. The entire place was very… white and gray, with various grays with only the subtlety of color such as the occasional silver blues from steel. Whether it be the ground, the buildings… Even the dome above them, while it gave a translucent view of the sky, it muted the blue from it, as the dome itself was various tones of whites and grays as it shimmered up above. It felt… wrong.

“This way.” The captain ordered them, pulling Sairek from his thoughts, and he quickly glanced to spot the man stepping past them and going forward. “We need to get you all processed, and then you can be on your way.”

Sairek glanced towards the group, Cyial specifically, who returned the look and gave a resigned nod. Sairek frowned, but stepped forward, taking the lead after the man and the rest followed suit, escorted by soldiers as the captain led the way into possibly one of the few buildings in the city that was constructed out of at least some lumber; the floor as they entered was made out of hardwood, adorned with some carpets which gave the place a splash of some much-needed color.

They were led up to a reception area, where the secretary there, a brunette woman who appeared to be in her early thirties, sat behind a black marble counter and was informed by the captain of who his “refugees” were and gave her the basic rundown of what happened. He stepped away, gesturing the four to move forward to speak to her, then stood to the side to watch.

“Hello! You four are pretty young to be traveling alone, huh?” She greeted them with what Sairek could only surmise was fake enthusiasm and interest, just to appear polite. “This won’t take very long, I promise. I just need to ask you all some basic questions and then we can be on your way, okay?”

“Um, sure.” Sairek agreed uneasily.

She asked each of them their names, age, and nationality, much the same as when they had been questioned when they had left Shamira. It was standard so far, and she didn’t even budge when Sairek had mentioned his own name other than the briefest flickers of recognition. After the basic questions were asked and she wrote everything down, she asked how long their visit would be.

“Under two weeks, for errands and then travel.” Varhi answered quickly, glancing briskly towards Sairek and Cyial.

“Understood then. And who owns the demon?”

“Nobo—” Sairek started in reaction.

“I am Sairek’s.” Cyial interjected, grabbing Sairek by the arm to hold him. Sairek looked down at his feet and shuffled uncomfortably in place

“Okay. Hold on for a moment, please.” She replied, reaching beneath the counter. When she came back up, she produced a collar, and then some sort of brace thing. “Please put this on your left hand.” She gestured to Sairek with the brace, then pushed the collar over to Cyial “And please attach this to his neck afterwards.”

Sairek clenched his teeth. He grabbed the bracer, but Nayleen grabbed it from him and then nodded her head. Sairek held his left hand out as she moved to clasp it over his glove and sleeve of his shirt. It was thick, a dark gray metal, to which he could feel it was extremely durable. It opened apart like a handcuff and clasped on like one around his wrist. When it clamped together with a click, other bits of the material moved to clasp together by itself, causing Sairek to lurch in surprise, but there was no backing away from this. “What…” He began. “How encumbersome…” He hissed under his breath once he got over his initial shock.

The secretary didn’t hear him, it seemed. “Now, please hold the collar near the brace, and then attach it to your demon.” She instructed.

Sairek resisted shooting her a look of ire and instead did as she instructed, grabbing the collar in his right hand as he held his staff at the same time. When they got near each other, lights on both the collar and the brace lit up, flashing a soft white-blue and it made a singular beep.

“The two items are linked now. Once you attach it to your demon, they will be able to tell each other apart, and you will be able to command your demon, as well as prevent other parties from taking your property so long as the collar is attached.” The secretary explained.

“...Command?” Sairek inquired. “What do you mean?” He pressed with morbid curiosity.

“If the demon strays too far away, like if it is trying to run away, the bracer will light up and notify you. Also see the engravings on the bracer? All around are lights, which light up the compass directions.” She explained, causing Sairek to stare at this mechanical contraption that was forced on his wrist and turn it over and back to look. “You cannot see it right now, but once the collar is attached and calibrated to your demon’s energy signature, you will be able to tell where he is at all times. White being very close proximity, green being close proximity, yellow being moderate proximity, amber being far away, and red signaling a run-away. By that point, a distress signal will—”

“A run-away?” Sairek repeated dryly before she could continue.

“Yes, sometimes demons try to escape from their masters. When that happens, a distress signal is let out and the authorities are automatically notified and will come to apprehend them for you. You don’t even have to do anything yourself. Handy!”

Sairek blinked. Multiple times. He swallowed dryly. “What… if I want to allow them to walk—for errands or whatever, and… those errands happen to be far away?” Sairek asked, correcting his question to not be too obvious of his intent.

“There is a free-roaming mode that will temporarily hibernate the devices. You just push and hold that button here.” She explained, leaning over the desk to show Sairek. “You can turn it back on at any time. The device can be turned off up to three hours during the day and between 10 P.M. to 7 A.M. to allow for sleep as that is the curfew hours for demons. The devices can also be removed when within registered dwelling as well, but if the demon escapes while the devices are off and is caught being outside without one, then you will be punished accordingly for letting them loose. We do not recommend keeping devices off from demons for long, as it will make it easy for them to run away. It is only recommended to do so when needed, such as bathing.

Sairek stared at her, not even knowing what to say.

“In times of distress,” she continued, not acknowledging Sairek’s look, she turned over to the collar, “The demon can press this button here at the front of it. After holding it for a few moments, the bracer will let out a loud beep, letting you know that the demon needs your assistance. But remember that they are your property, anything they do or happens to them is your responsibility.”
“...Right.” Sairek forced himself to answer.. His mouth felt incredibly dry. “When do these get removed—permanently, I mean.”

“When you leave the country. If it is by ocean, you’ll be coming back here to return these. If it is by foot, it will be at the nearest border agency.”

“I see. I understand, thanks.” Sairek said, his voice lacking the appreciation required to be convincing in his ‘gratefulness’ to the information. He grabbed the metallic collar in his hand tightly and turned towards Cyial. The demon looked at him with his garnet eyes, swallowed, then gave a short, curt nod. Sairek tucked his staff underneath his right armpit and held it there between there and his body as he took the collar into both of his trembling hands, and opened it as if it was like the bracer; a large handcuff, around Cyial’s neck. He hesitated for a moment, before he moved to clasp it, though with magnetic energy, as the clasps neared each other, they suddenly slammed shut hard with a fearsome cold ‘clack’, and Cyial gasped in discomfort and shifted, both of his hands reaching up to gently grasp at the collar and clawing at it momentarily to try and find some relief from the metal object around his throat, but he soon gave up when there was no relief to be had. Cyial bit his bottom lip, concern showing on his face despite trying to hide it.

After a few seconds, a white, faint pulsing light showed on the collar on the front. Sairek glanced down at the bracer on his left arm to see a similar pulsing light pointing in the compass direction Cyial was currently in: North, north-east.

“Finally, here;” The secretary said, causing the two boys’ gazes to tear from one another as they looked over. She slid over four pieces of paper towards them. “These are your passports. A two week visit is free of charge, but staying within the borders any longer will come with a hefty fine. Please don’t lose them, as that will warrant a fine as well, even if you are leaving on time.”

“Thanks,” Both Nayleen and Varhi gestured as they took their own. Sairek and Cyial did not return the appreciative words, silently taking each of theirs.

“You are free to go now. Welcome to Kior!” The secretary smiled sweetly.

Sairek’s stomach felt sick looking at her smile.

* * *

“It’s not going to come off like that, you know.” Varhi said dryly, watching as Sairek desperately tried to pull the bracer off of his arm. “You’re supposed to push the button, remember?”

“Yeah, and that only works inside a residence we own….” Sairek growled with a grunt as he pulled at the contraption anyways, as if trying to tear the thing apart with his right hand. “And how fair do you think it is that Cyial gets stuck with that collar on him the entire time?!”

Sairek continued to keep fruitlessly pulling, until Varhi stomped over and snatched his left arm. “Will you quit it? The collar comes off when you push the button too. She just didn’t bother to explain. Calm down. At least keep it on for now until we can find a place to stay. The authorities won’t care if the items are off as long as you two stay inside the building.”
Sairek huffed, but stopped struggling, causing Varhi to relinquish his grip on Sairek’s arm and return it back to his control. “When either of you go out though, it’s better to keep them on so no questions are asked. There’s very few demons who are free inside of this city. You are recognizable and the fact you ‘own’ a demon is logged, so if any authority sees and recognizes you, they’re going to ask if they see you without it.”

Sairek growled through clenched teeth. “We’re getting out of this city as soon as we can.”

“Agreed.” Varhi forced a smile. “There’s a reason Jimmy and I left this place, you know.”

“And also why my family didn’t like living here.” Nayleen concurred. “We like our freedom, you know.”

“Then why in the Flaming Lands are there so many people here? Just—Just look!” Sairek gestured empathically with his left hand from the alleyway they were in on the streets. There was so much foot traffic, that people were filling large roads with just people; dense enough that most people were shoulder to shoulder, brushing against each other. “Over half of the world’s population must live here!”

“Probably because they can’t… or because it’s their home, regardless of how it is.” Varhi shrugged. “Besides, it’s not like the majority of humans living here get the short-end of the stick. Not unless you are poor. There are benefits to living in a place like this. To some, a little bit of sacrifice to freedom to what can be useful resources and security is appealing to some. As long as they have food, a place to stay, friends to be with and entertainment, they’re happy in life.”

“When the heck did these come into play, then?” Sairek fussed angrily, gesturing at the bracer.

“How should I know? I don’t even remember the past two years of my life. Does it matter?” Varhi answered in his own question. “Look, this isn’t your country, Sairek. You have no power here and the more you complain, the more attention you’ll draw to yourself. It’s best to lay low. That was the plan for a few days, remember?”

“I remember…” Sairek answered sourly.

“So just put up with it for the day we’ll get a place to stay and then you and Cyial can keep them off until we leave the city. Don’t waste your energy crying about it; it’s not going to make them come off any faster.”

Sairek’s gaze fell from him, looking off to the side, a pout of annoyance on his face.

Varhi sighed, but turned to address all of them at once. “I know everyone is still exhausted and worn down from what happened and what we’ve been through. To get to the district I’m thinking of, it’s a long walk from here. Like, a multi-day walk. This city is seriously huge. I suggest taking the train to get there. It’s a little bit of money, but we’ll get there much faster without having to wear our feet out and much less risk of each other getting lost in the crowds. On top of that, it’ll probably be cheaper than having to spend money at inns and such.

“How much money are we talking about?” Nayleen asked.

“Um… if my memory is correct, it’s ten seru per passenger per district up to a maximum of fifty seru. Demon prices excluded. That would be one-hundred-fifty seru in total for us.”

“Because, let me guess: Demons don’t count as people...” Sairek growled in disgust.

“Not if they’re someone’s property, no. Owned demons are basically the equivalent to pets here in regards to the law.” Varhi answered. “Anyway, it’ll be a long ride, but it’s not so bad. At fifty seru, you get free meals at designated times~”

Sairek wanted to say something, but what else was there to be said that he hadn’t said already. He closed his eyes and shook his head. “Cyial, I’m so sorry…” He apologized weakly.

“I’ll be okay…” Cyial answered him quietly. “Let’s… Let’s just go… The sooner we go, the sooner we can get these off, right?”

“Yeah…” Sairek agreed. He inhaled a deep breath. “Alright, lead the way, Varhi…”

Varhi just looked at him.

“...What?”

“Do you know where the train is? Because I don’t.” Varhi answered, gently rubbing his injured side.

“But… haven’t you been here before?” Sairek questioned.

Varhi blinked at him. “Have you not seen the size of this place? As if I can remember every nook and cranny! We need a map first and foremost. What I do know though is that there should be a few shops nearby. Let’s stick to the alleyways for now, it’s less crowded. I don’t want to risk one of us getting stranded in the flood of people. All kinds of pickpockets who take advantage of newcomers on the streets who don’t know any better. Also, just because we’re in the city, don’t think we’re safe. Some people won’t think twice to mug a group of children alone, especially if they look loaded, or have a pretty body.”

“...What? Pretty body?” Sairek asked for clarification.

“Think of the ‘cubi you had to deal with, but far worse. Kidnapped, sold off for entertainment, forcing you to do things that even I don’t wanna know about. Eventually your body will be found somewhere—if there’s a body left to be found.” Varhi explained, causing Sairek to fidget and swallow nervously. “...Okay, I’m being a bit extreme. Not about the pickpocketing, though. That’s why I want to get out of the rabble area as quickly as possible into a more secure section of the city, and it’s also why Cyial is forced to wear that collar. It’s inhumane, but there’s a lot of far more inhumane folks in this city. Granted, they tend to pick on the far less fortunate and far more poor, but you’d still be a hefty target given your status.”

“Are you serious…?” Sairek asked.

“How can I put this…” Varhi whispered thoughtfully for a moment. “Let me put it this way, Sairek: There are no accidents that happen within this city. Before Jimmy and I left here, the number of missing people was increasing by the day. Now come on, let’s get to looking.”

“I’m starting to think coming here was a horrible idea…” Sairek grumbled, pushing forwards as Varhi began to walk.

“Not like we had a choice. Plan A and B were a failure.” Varhi grunted. “Damn Belgarion…”

* * *

Keeping off the main roads, Varhi managed to guide them to one of the many shops that had a map they could use. When they opened it however, Sairek was overwhelmed. The map was basically the size of a country and more. But a country is easier to read than a city the size of one. There was so much text and icons on the map and the layout of the city was haphazard at best, that he didn’t even know where to start with it. It was like looking at a puzzle that was scrambled and had been fractured into further pieces. Nayleen and Cyial weren’t faring any better, either.

“Okay, okay… Where did we come from, exactly?” Nayleen asked, holding the top of her head.

“Here.” Varhi pointed to the north end of the city. “That means we’re in this section around here. They’re color-coded on the map, as you can see. Each one serves a main purpose, but some are identical. Like residential. Those are green, but there’s various shades to indicate what type of residential zone it is. Darker is poorer, while brighter is more high-class.”

“We’re in purple right now. What’s that mean?” Nayleen asked.

“I don’t know.” Varhi answered.

“...What do you mean you don’t know?” Sairek asked dryly.

“The map doesn’t say. I’m going to guess with… travel.”

“Travel?” Cyial asked.

“Yeah. See, the docks are here, and we found a map, and that shop had other sorts of traveling gear, right? Maybe that means we can find a train in this zone as well. Most industrial districts have one, and residentials as well.” Varhi replied, peering back at them for a moment before concentrating on the map once more. “Something has to be nearby to take people in and out of the city with ease… Ah, there. And that shop was… here. So we need to go southeast, left, right… straight, straight, right, aaaand straight until we get there. Okay, come on.”

Varhi began moving, beckoning them to follow before the other three could ask questions. Sairek and Cyial glanced at each other. Nayleen patted their backs reassuringly while she shrugged her shoulders, but urged them forwards nonetheless.

Varhi stuck to mostly the alleyways, but twice they had to cross the main street. He urged everyone to hold each other’s hands and to just keep up his pace as they went across the street against the flow of the foot traffic. Sairek held onto Cyial’s hand, and was the second last in the line with Nayleen ahead of him and Varhi taking the lead. People gave them looks as they brushed past but never said anything. More than a few eyed the Cearestian jewel, he saw.

Nearly twenty minutes of walking later through streets that almost looked the same to him, they came to a moderate sized white stoned building with dark metals in the shape of a rectangle; like almost everything else in the city; though there was a doorway, it was wide open and no door, instead with stairs leading upwards higher and higher. Past the building, Sairek saw a tall bridge-like structure, but it curved, and it had rails on it.

As Varhi led them up the stairs, he began to explain. “This is the train station. Or, one of them, anyway. One goes above the ground of the city, and another far below, and that one is called the subway. The subway is basically the same thing, but there’s far more of them, and they’re slower, designed to get around a district rather than to get to other ones. We want to basically go all the way on the other side of the city, so this one is our goto.”

“This train connects to the rest of the city?” Sairek asked.

“More or less. There are multiple, and they go around a route, with various stops along the way. There’s multiple stations, each with a new main district. I suspect it’ll take us about… eight hours to reach the district we want to go to.”

“Eight hours!?” Sairek squeaked.

“Better than the nearly three days it would take us on foot, Sairek.” Varhi reminded him. “It’s not a straight shot there. Besides, you’ll get to enjoy the view, and get free food. Granted, it’s not going to taste very good. Better than what we’ve been eating as of late, though.”

“It will be dusk by the time we get off…” Cyial noted, looking upwards, then frowning with a squint of his eyes. “...I think. I can’t even tell what time it is properly because of that… thing.”

“It won’t be a far walk once we get off. Just in time to head to bed.” Varhi explained as he panned around briefly before looking up, then pointed. “See on the station how there’s a giant clock? The train arrives ten minutes before the hour, and leaves on the dot. That gives us only about twelve minutes left to get boarding passes and get on the train and means it’ll be arriving any minute, so we better get going.”

Sairek looked up, and the clock showed it was currently twelve minutes before eleven in the morning. He followed Varhi’s lead inside the station, as well as other people starting to flow in as well. When they got inside, the station had a line of various city-dwellers. The walls were white stone, not unlike Lamen, but the floor was made of marble. Sairek felt very out of his depth.

“Bunch together guys.” Varhi instructed, gesturing to them to come forward. “Make room for other people and show we’re a single group, and watch your pockets just in case. Children tend to be easier marks to yoink from, after all.”

Sairek obeyed, huddling closer. He was tempted to take Cyial’s hand, but as he looked over the demon, seeing the collar on him, he decided against it. If demons were discriminated against that badly, he didn’t know how people would react to seeing him take hold of Cyial like that in public. Now probably wasn’t the best time, despite how much he craved the comfort.

The line was fortunately quick going however, despite how long it was, moving forwards quickly. Eventually it was their turn, where there was a male at the counter that was definitely not human. Sairek had only so far seen incubus or succubus so far, but the male in front of him with ram-like horns and a mix between a nose and a snout on his head reminded him that demons didn’t always take the shape of humans, but could also be more animal-esque, or even something else entirely. Like Cyial, he was also wearing a collar, though the design seemed to be completely different. More foreboding for sure. While Cyial’s was mostly smooth and circular, this one had more ragged edges and sharper points to it, like it was designed to be difficult to even grab onto without inflicting pain.

Amber eyes stared at Varhi wordlessly as he stepped up to the counter, standing on the tip of his toes to make himself appear taller. “Three passes to The View district, please.”

“One-hundred fifty seru.” The demon replied, his voice deep, yet like stones grinding against one another.

Varhi held his hand back towards Sairek open-palmed, waiting. It took the Prince a second to register, but he fished for the seru pouch, making sure not to show it to anyone else as he grabbed the required money exactly and carefully placed it into Varhi’s palm, who then put it down onto the counter. The demon looked down and dragged most of the seru towards one bag, and then dumped a singular seru gem into another bag. Then he reached into a roll of tickets, of which there were several of various colors, and pulled three pink ones out, handing them to Varhi.

“Thanks.” Varhi said, taking the passes.

“Next.” The demon uttered, no emotion, no sign of registering the contact; almost like a machine that was just going through the motions.

“Come on.” Varhi gestured to the group before Sairek could ask questions, pulling Prince along. “Come on, Cyial.” Varhi gestured when the smaller demon didn’t move initially. Calling his name seemed to have got his attention and Cyial briskly walked to catch up as they followed a pink line along the marble floor, of which there were many colored ones.

“Here you two. And remember Sairek, Cyial is ‘your demon’ in case anyone asks.” Varhi reminded him, handing Nayleen and Sairek each a pass.

“Yes, I know…” Sairek forced himself to say, albeit, through grounded teeth.

As they followed their line past a rainbow of other lines, Sairek soon saw a large, long, series of metal boxes with windows and large metal wheels. He’d heard about trains a little when learning about Kior a few years ago; just random collectional bits of knowledge he learned through reading due to there being little else to do at the castle, but it was definitely his first time seeing one in person. Varhi turned as the pink line did, following it along the platform of the train which opened up to open city view as they walked along this upper platform that the train was on, as if suspended in air, were it not for the rails that were supported up above the ground by steel beams.

“This compartment here. Someone will come to check the passes before we get going. Sometimes if they’re running late, they made do it afterwards instead, though” Varhi explained, stepping forwards. “Let’s go with… this one.” He said, stepping upwards to one of the many small metal boxes and opening a door, before heading inside. The rest of the ground followed.

The “box” was a small room with a small row of cushioned benches to sit on. Red velvet. They actually looked comfy to sit on, though Sairek was unsure if they’d be comfortable enough before his butt was sore if they would be sitting for around eight hours straight. Each box seemed to be split into two, with a partition in the middle with an opening at the front and back of the box to get to the other side. Each bench seemed wide enough to comfortably fit two people, possibly three if they squeezed in.

“Better to get the ones with the windows before they’re taken.” Varhi smirked slightly, walking up to the second bench from the front and then standing beside it. “You and Cyial should take the front, Sairek. I doubt many people will come in here for a while until evening, but just in case, it’ll give you two a little better privacy to talk to each other.

“Alright. You want the inside, or outside, Cyial?” Sairek asked.

“I-I’ll take the inside next to the window… I don’t want people to easily see…” Cyial trailed off, tugging on the collar. “It’s… embarrassing.”

Sairek nodded, allowing Cyial to shimmy his form on the seat and make room for Cyial, as Nayleen took the inside as well, as Varhi gestured her to do so. “I’ve seen the city more than enough before.” He said.

Sairek sat down beside Cyial, shifting his form a bit to get himself comfortable and seating his staff along his lap, at least until he saw that at the back of each seat was a long holding compartment, it looked like for swords and stuff, so he put his staff inside that instead and leaned back with a weary exhale. The seat was indeed decently comfortable, though there were no arm rests for them to use to lean their weight upon.

Both Sairek and Cyial peered out the window, though at the moment, all they saw was the station platform they had just come from which was obscuring their view from seeing anything else, so Sairek pulled back.

“Late lunch will arrive for us an hour into the journey at exactly noon, so basically, our next stop. Dinner another six hours after that. Sorry if any of you are hungry right now.” Varhi apologized. “They only give food here at set increment hours.”

“I’ll be fine. I’m too nervous to be hungry right now anyway.” Sairek grumbled.

“Not me!” Nayleen pitched in from behind him.

“You’re always hungry, Nayleen.” Sairek admonished with a roll of his eyes, even though she couldn’t see. “How are your injuries doing, Varhi?”

“They hurt. Like injuries do.” Varhi helpfully informed him. “Honestly that walk was a struggle, but we’re sitting for the next eight hours so I guess it doesn’t matter. The bandages are still holding my innards in.”

“What’s this district we are going to like?” Nayleen asked.

“One of the very few pretty parts of the city, or possibly maybe the only one, depending on how you perceive beauty, I guess. One of the few places where there’s vegetation, too. It’s on the south side of the city, by the ocean. Because people come in and out of the city from the north, there tends to be a lot more people up there. So, with it being on the south side, as well as a residential area, and it being a high-class residential area, it usually has far less people, but it’s also a hot tourist spot, as well.” Varhi explained. “Anyways, it’s very… pink and purple, because it’s littered with sakura trees and sakura gardens. Pretty festive I guess. The buildings are extremely high there, so I’m planning to take one of the rooftop spots. It’s more private and less regulated up off the streets. It’ll give Cyial a chance to be outside, at least on the rooftop, without the damn collar on if he needs some fresh air.”

“And expensive, I assume?” Sairek asked.

“Yeah, but it’s only for a week. It’ll do a small ding to your wallet. Probably between four-hundred to six-hundred seru, depending on the size and location. It’ll be good. You’ll like it.”

“I’ll hold you to that.”

“It’s a promise.”

Sairek smirked slightly. If Varhi was promising, he was definitely confident and most likely wouldn’t disappoint.

A loud high-pitched horn abruptly blared, interrupting their conversation. It was sudden enough for Cyial to cover his ears.

“What was that for?” Nayleen asked once the horn sub-sided.

“Five minute warning, and a signal for passengers to prepare for departure.” Varhi answered, only for seconds later for the compartment door to open up as two demons walked in. Sairek saw one that looked almost like a racoon with a long bushy tail behind it, and then the other looked closer to a humanoid bird. They both separated but went onto the opposing compartments on the other side of the train. Like Cyial, they had been wearing collars as well. They didn’t even show any signs of really noticing them.

“It’s like they’re not even paying attention…” Cyial murmured. “Just like the worker at the desk here.”

“Did you notice how there’s two bags of seru?” Varhi asked.

“Yeah.” Sairek answered.

“One is for the station, and the other bag, the one where one seru went into, was the demon’s pay. One seru for each customer, or group of customers served.” Varhi explained. “The more you do in a day, the more seru you get.”

“No wonder the line was going so fast…” Sairek sighed. “Still, I guess that’s a decent pay. He probably does around fifty customers an hour—”

“No.” Varhi interjected.

“...No?”

“He had a collar, remember? So he’s owned by someone.” Varhi reminded him. “That means whoever owns him gets the money, not them. Of course, if the master is generous, they could keep the money, but the master could give them nothing. It’s slave labor, but it’s most likely that his master takes everything, and as a result, he gets shelter to not be on the streets. His master might give him other perks for reaching certain milestones. Maybe a few drops of those sweet, sweet underworld vials. Carrot on the stick, you know?”

Sairek turned to look at Cyial with a frown, but Cyial was just looking straight ahead. However, the demon’s hands were balled in his lap tightly. “But that’s so inhumane…” Sairek growled as he turned back to Varhi.

“Well, keep in mind Sairek, the vast majority of demons here did some pretty shitty stuff; most likely anyway, in the underworld. This is purgatory for them. It’s supposed to be worse than death row. This is them repenting their sins, whatever that may have been in the underworld, from mass murder sprees, to rape to whatever the heck else I can’t even comprehend. You nearly experienced it first-hand how ruthless they can be. You should know. For most of them, they will live like this until they die. That’s the plan, anyway.”

“Yeah, I know…” Sairek forced himself to speak through clenched teeth. “But the vast majority still isn’t all of them.” He countered, looking towards Cyial.

“Yes,” Varhi agreed. “And there’s a few lucky ones who even get rid of their shackles, whether it be through escape or just going through the system.”

“There are ones that managed to escape, even through all of this?” Nayleen asked.

“Yup. Whether it be through technicalities, or corruption, or just somehow being crafty.” Varhi said. “My best bet is on corruption.”

“Corruption, how?” Nayleen pressed.

Varhi shrugged. “Well, I already told you how I got rid of that drug dealer, but there’s could be others, either for smuggling demons out of the city, or—”

The compartment door opened again, and three humanoids stepped in, with the latter dragging a humanoid male demon not by just a collar, but by a leash, with the collar. Varhi paused his explanation as the humanoid, a man beginning to get on with his years, though still trying to apparently fruitlessly keep youthful appearances up with thinning long hair, forcibly tugged the collar of the demon into the compartment with him as the other two humans, a man and a woman, glanced back behind themselves uncomfortably, giving each other knowing looks as they quickly moved through the small spaces past the group of children to the back. It looked like they were separate from the man with the leashed demon.

“You insufferable ingrate. I nearly missed the trip back because of you!” The man scolded at his demon, before outright slamming his fist right into the demon’s face, causing him to stumble back against the outer open edges of the compartment door.

Sairek flinched and shuffled back towards Cyial, left hand reaching towards his staff in the holding compartment, though not lifting it out just yet, and his right hand going over Cyial’s form in a protective gesture. Although it was instinct to speak out against seeing this, Sairek managed to hold his tongue.

The demon, despite the sudden hook it received, managed to stand upright, and merely stared at the man with topaz-colored eyes before abruptly reaching towards the man. However, his enslaver reacted quickly, lifting his left hand up, the bracelet, much like Sairek had stuck on his arm, and then pressed a button on it, causing the demon to seize up and twitch, like he was being electrocuted, and letting out a choked sound.

Though the scene only lasted a few seconds before the demon sagged, limp with pain and fatigue it seemed, causing the man to haul his demon off, Sairek, Nayleen and Cyial watched in horror. Sairek uncomfortably stared at his bracer. “Sweet Lands… What the heck was that?!” He hissed in a whispered

“Told ya.” Varhi said nonchalantly.

“I meant what he could do with the collar! I don’t want to accidentally do that to Cyial!” Sairek seethed.

“What? Oh, no no no. Yours doesn’t do that.” Varhi tried to calm him, standing up and leaning over his seat, causing Sairek and Cyial to look. “Misbehaving demons get uh… the worst collars, like that one. Or banished demons, I guess. Cyial’s is the most basic one. It really is just for security, to let you know where he is, let you know if he’s safe, and vice versa. It also lets officials know what kind of demon he is. There’s no sort of ‘torture device’ within it.”

Cyial reached up to grip the collar around his neck with a frown, but sighed. “After seeing that, maybe this thing isn’t so terrible after all…” He drawled dryly.

“Like I said, once we get ‘home’ we can take that thing off. It’s only supposed to be temporary removal, but they won’t care as long as you stay at the residence and don’t leave home without it. Definitely put it on if you’re going out, though. For your safety, and so you don’t get in trouble. As you can see, some people don’t take to demons kindly.”

“I doubt I’ll go outside without good reason…” Cyial mumbled, dropping his hand off the collar. “Though ironically, after seeing that and what I could have gotten instead of this one, I am surprisingly a little bit more at ease. In a way, they’re treating me with more respect than the usual general populace has.”

Sairek blinked. “Cyial… That’s an incredibly cynical way to look at it.”

Cyial looked at him. “I’m being serious though, Sairek. Granted, most of what I have to experience was with Balgira, so…” He trailed off.

“Exactly. The bar is incredibly low because of him. You shouldn’t settle for less than that.” Sairek pressed.

“But you guys are on an entirely different plane.” Cyial expressed with a half-forced smile. “Especially you, Sairek.”

Sairek felt heat rushing to his face. “N…Not here, Cyial…” He whispered, but it was in vain. He heard Nayleen chuckling behind him. He sighed, leaning back into the chair. “I guess you are feeling better now after all.” He mumbled.

The door to the compartment, which had been left open, suddenly buzzed, then a few seconds later swung shut loudly by itself, causing Sairek’s leaning back to be short-lived as he jumped upright, startled by the noise. And then two heavy poles slid with a loud *CHNK* across the door, sealing it closed. The horn from the train blared again.

“Time to depart.” Varhi said, moving to sit back down into his seat. “Only a few other passengers onboard for at least the next hour. Nice.”

“Everyone here is also going to the same district as us?” Sairek asked for clarification.

“Yep. So we’ll be stuck with the two who hate each other for the entire journey. He probably sedated him though, so there might not be any trouble.” Varhi said, as they lurched forward suddenly, the train began to push itself into motion.

“...Sedate?” Cyial questioned.

“The collar for banished demons has sedatives ready to be released inside of it. Specifically, it has syringes that go right into the demon’s neck.” Varhi explained. “That’s probably what his sudden shuddering was. His owner was ejecting ethereal into him to weaken him and make him more… docile.”

“Geez… It’s that bad for Underworld demons, huh?” Sairek asked.

“Indeed. Extremely painful, especially when put right inside their body. It’d do nothing to Cyial, obviously. I guess being stabbed in the neck by a syringe wouldn’t feel nice; I can speak from experience that being stabbed by one isn’t nice at all, after today, but it’d do nothing besides that to him. So no need for him to have such a collar, right?”

“Is there a collar for misbehaving overworld demons?” Cyial asked.

“Of course.”

“I guess I better be on my best behavior, then…” Cyial grumbled.

Sairek turned to look at him, watching behind Cyial’s form as the station from his view of the window was beginning to move by faster. “I hope you’re not planning on doing anything brash.”

“No. Not unless someone tries to do something to you, first.” Cyial replied.

“I don’t think both of us going out for any reason is a good idea. With you being you, and me being… me. Also because of the ‘cargo’ I’m carrying…” Sairek replied.

“I know my way around the city and Nayleen is independent enough to make it on her own if need be and I know she won’t get pickpocketed out of the blue. You two should just sit tight for the week and hang out with each other. Might not be much to do though. You can’t even practice magic here because of that dome in the sky.”

“There’s always physical exercises we can do.” Cyial suggested.

“That… doesn’t seem like fun at all.” Sairek frowned at h im.

“You promised Fuyiki that you would keep up, remember? You can’t say you will and just not make any effort at all as soon as you’re out of his sight.” Cyial said.

“Haah…” Sairek exhaled in disappointment. “I suppose you’re right… At least it’s not as hot as I was expecting for a desert city without my enchantments.”

“That’s also because of the dome in the sky. It doesn’t stop all the heat obviously, but it’s keeping the city fairly cool in comparison to outside the dome. You’ll know when it’s time for us to leave here if we set out on foot, but let’s concentrate on what’s happening right now.” Varhi said.

Sairek turned around and nodded to Varhi, then his attention was pulled back to the front half a moment later when the compartment door opened and a soldier stepped through, which was an obvious observation due to wearing the same style of armor and mask as the ones on the ships. He walked the mere three paces towards the group.

“Your tickets, please.” He requested simply.

Sairek reached for his and presented it, as did Varhi did for his and Nayleen’s. He examined them briefly, then handed them back. “That’s your demon, lad?” He asked, gesturing to Cyial towards Sairek.

“...Yes.” Sairek and Cyial replied in unison at the same time, yet both answers were forced.

“Understood. Enjoy the ride, kids.” He acknowledged in a monotone voice, then stepped away to check the other passengers.

“Ugghhh…” Sairek groaned after he was gone, hanging his head to look down at his lap and slumping in his seat.

“I’m okay.” Cyial reassured him, moving his hand to Sairek’s back and gently rubbing up and down it. “We just need to say the words they want to hear, but without the intent. They’re kind of empty anyway, right?”

“Doesn’t make it any less wrong, but I guess I kind of get it.” Sairek replied, looking back towards the window again and then blinked. “Hey, look.” He gestured to Cyial at the window. The demon turned around, and leaned towards it, giving Sairek space to look too as they both peered out the window together. “...Oh, we’re… kind of high...” Sairek’s voice quivered a little.

“Don’t worry, this thing takes twenty-four trains a day. Well, aside from the day when they do regular maintenance to make sure the thing doesn’t wear down. That’d be a disaster if it did.” Varhi replied. “Give Kior credit where credit is due; they don’t half-ass anything, and most of the things that work, are reliable. Except their firearms; those are still a huge work in progress.”

“How is it possible to make something so big… There’s hundreds of buildings, just out of this window view alone. And they’re so tall, too…” Sairek wondered aloud.

“The hard sweat, blood and tears of many demons and low-class workers. And hundreds of years, I guess.” Varhi shrugged. “Just wait until you see The View, though. The name kind of hits on the nose.”

“Gives me one thing to look forward to in this city, at least.” Cyial murmured, looking away from the window and then at Sairek for a pause. “...Well, two things.” He added quietly.

Sairek pulled back from the window and blushed. “You are viscous today,” he murmured.

Cyial gave him a small reassuring smile.

* * *

At the next stop, they were served lunch, which was a grilled cheese sandwich. There was no choice given, they were just… handed the food. Sairek didn’t mind though, it wasn’t amazing, but it was good. Compared to the last three weeks though, it was a delicacy. It felt good to eat “people” food once again. No animals, no bland rations. Usually he was a light eater, but after eating the sandwich, it opened up his appetite again and he was wanting more, but according to Varhi, it’d be enough six hours before that happened. At least they’d get another free meal one hour before they departed the train, though, so they wouldn’t be sleeping totally hungry.

Buildings in the city continued to roll by after the second station stop, to which there were no additional passengers. By this point, Cyial had opted to rest and fall asleep, leaning against the wall next to the window. Considering he had stayed up all night and probably wasn’t at full strength, Sairek wasn’t surprised, however, Cyial had given him his tome to browse through so he had something to do. Sairek wasn’t in the mood to do much reading though. He was still a little apprehensive, and still kind of tired himself. Other than the blaring of the horn every hour, the train ride was actually relatively quiet and peaceful, and the view from the window had already gotten stale. It was just more tall buildings rolling by over and over again.

Sairek glanced back at Nayleen and Varhi to check on how they were doing, only to smile gently to see Varhi had fallen asleep, leaning against Nayleen’s shoulder. He had taken his helmet off apparently, or maybe Nayleen herself had. Either way, Nayleen, who was still awake, looked at Sairek and gave him a smile. His own became a little wider, and amused seeing the sight, but for both boys’ peace, he kept quiet and turned back around, and went back to reading Cyial’s tome.

Cyial and Varhi must have been more tired than he thought, because even the horn blaring from the third stop hadn’t woken them up and they kept on sleeping without interruption. Sairek was getting uncomfortable by this point. The seat wasn’t comfortable anymore. He needed to stretch, but he didn’t know if it would be best to remain seated. He had to use the bathroom soon, too, but he didn’t want to wake Varhi up to ask because the other boy needed his rest, so he just held it in.

Another hour passed, and Sairek was getting a little fidgety, and Varhi and Cyial still didn’t wake up. Forty minutes later, his fidgeting and discomfort reached a point where even Nayleen seemed to notice. “What’s wrong, Sairek?” She whispered.

“I… uh…” He bit his bottom lip. “...I have to pee.” He responded dryly in embarrassment, his voice just above a whisper.

“Then… go?” She blinked at him.

“But… where?” Sairek stressed while he looked around.

“Oh, right.” She frowned. “Want me to ask Varhi?”

“No, no… He needs his rest.” Sairek sighed. “I’ll just… hold it in a little longer.”

“If you insist.” Nayleen said, leaning back into her chair. “I wouldn’t mind going either, though.”

Sairek grunted in reply, trying to distract himself with Cyial’s book.

Thankfully for him, by the next stop, both Cyial and Varhi stirred. “Mm… How long has it been?” Varhi yawned.

“Fourth stop. So halfway there.” Nayleen answered for him.

“Oh, cool…” He yawned, soon settling back down.

“Varhi, where’s the bathroom?” Sairek asked, taking his chance while the other boy was still awake.

“Oh, right. Oops. Boys that way. Girl’s that way—guah!” He let out as Nayleen suddenly stood up and shimmied past him, Causing Varhi to fall on his side on the velvet bench.

“Sorry.” Nayleen apologized with little sympathy as she moved and marched straight to the woman’s side.

“...Guess she had to go even worse than me.” Sairek muttered dryly.

“Let’s go together.” Cyial yawned. “People probably wouldn’t like a demon like me being unintended anyway. Not that many people are here… Just a couple more arrived, it looks like.” Cyial said, standing up and stretching.

“Can you watch our stuff for us, Varhi?” Sairek asked, putting Cyial’s book into the holding compartment next to his staff.

“Yeah, sure, whatever.” Varhi yawned. Plopping down to take the entire bench in Nayleen’s absence. His method of ‘stretching’, Sairek supposed.

“Come on, before I do something… embarrassing to myself.” Sairek tugged on Cyial’s hand, leading him along, though released it as he opened the compartment door and stepped into the next one. This one, unlike his decorated with a pink floor, was red. Sairek glanced around, but kept walking forwards; there were only a couple more people here than their compartment. He opened the next compartment and was blasted by a gust of wind as they reached the end of the box and into the open train that was the end of their box.

“Gah…!” Sairek gasped out as the wind buffeted him, causing Cyial to splutter as the wind caused Sairek’s cape to constantly slap against the demon’s face. After a bit of frantic crawling, Cyial managed to catch the vibrant red fabric in his hand so it didn’t flap in the wind. Sairek glanced out past the surroundings. There was a small catwalk to allow him to go to the next box, but he took a moment to look at where they were exactly in regards to the city. He could see off in the distance the ocean they had come from, but only just past the sky scrapers. Looking up, they were more or less in the center of the dome now, instead of near the edge of it on the northern side, meaning they had made substantial progress through the city, but considering they were going to the other side, there was clearly some distance left to go. He opened the next compartment door, to see it was a small hallway, lined up with three bathrooms, each with a “Men’s” label on the doors.

“I wonder why they separate the bathrooms into different compartments for genders?” Sairek wondered aloud, but quietly as Cyial closed the door behind them, muting much of the noise from the train and wind.

“Maybe to reduce foot traffic. These are pretty narrow.” Cyial suggested. “Pick one and let’s go.”

“...You don’t want to pick your own?” Sairek asked.

“Can’t be alone, remember?” Cyial reminded him.

“Yeah, but… it’s the bathroom.” Sairek murmured.

“I know, but I don’t know how literally Varhi is taking this. If someone stepped in while I was alone…” Cyial trailed off.

“Eh, whatever.” Sairek shrugged, stepping inside the closest washroom and allowing Cyial to go in with him. It was a little bigger than he thought it’d be. In fact, there were three stalls inside the room and a sink. “Oh.” He let out in realization.

Cyial took the middle stall and Sairek took the closest one as he loosened his belt and adjusted his shirt and pants and pried off his gloves, with Cyial mimicking him in the next stall over, except dealing with his robe instead. Relief coursed through Sairek as he was allowed to release the discomfort that had been building for a while. It was a little strange doing it beside Cyial, even if he was in the next stall over. He could hear the demon as well.

“Much better, huh?” Cyial asked, then let out a chuckling laugh.

“Yeah.” Sairek agreed with a small chuckle of his own.

Sairek was the first to leave and he began washing his hands at the sink, then allowed Cyial to have his turn as well while he flicked his hands clean. Cyial did the same.

“You know, this is probably the only time we’ll be alone until tomorrow, or the day after.” Cyial said.

“Eh?” Sairek pondered out loud. He didn’t get much time to comprehend what Cyial meant though because the demon cupped his chin and tilted his head back before pressing their lips together tenderly.

“Mmn!?” Sairek let out a muffled sound in surprise, but he didn’t pull away. Cyial did a couple seconds later. “Woah… Y-You really are viscous today Cyial.” He chuckled.

“It will be nice to finally have some proper time to ourselves alone. I want to express myself like this to you more.” Cyial said. His garnet eyes briefly flicked away from Sairek, before returning to look at him directly again. “You know, to just… forget about everything for a bit. Ever since we expressed ourselves in Thalnar, there just hasn’t been much of a chance, you know? There’s still a lot I want to do with you, but everything that happened it’s just been… rough. I want to forget it for at least a couple of days and actually be with you Sairek, you know?”

“Yes, I understand. We haven’t really had a proper chance to be a couple yet, haven’t we.” Sairek said more in a statement than a question. “I’m looking forward to it too. And…” Sairek hesitated for a brief pause, blushing. “And well… more romantic stuff, if you want…”

“Only if you want to, Sairek. When I say I want to spend time with you, that isn’t my intention.”

“I want to,” He confirmed, his voice a bit nervous and dry, “but let’s not force it of course. Whatever comes naturally. The, um, kisses… they feel nice, but I think it would feel more nice if it was more intimate instead of just a quick gesture now and then… like this,” he paused, pulling Cyial’s head towards his own gently, then returning said ‘gesture’ with another kiss, causing the demon to hum contently, a noise not unnoticed by both of them, causing them both to giggle and pull away from each other because of their laughter, only to return a third time together when their giggles subsided.

After they had their brief share, they pulled away together. “We better stop before someone comes in.” Cyial sighed.

“Yeah, you’re right. And before Varhi starts getting ideas. He’s too blunt for his own good.

“I love you, Sairek.”

“I love you too, Cyial.”

* * *

When they returned, Varhi was apparently none-the-wiser as to why they were absent for longer than normal. Nayleen herself however came back a couple minutes later.

Cyial allowed Sairek to have the window side this time, and Sairek did spend most of the time looking out the window, at least until the next stop happened. A few more passengers came on. The box was starting to get a little crowded now, louder with more conversation instead of just them. Sairek tuned the noise out as the train began to move yet again, and before he knew it, it was his turn to have passed out.


When he awoke again, Cyial was shaking him gently. “Sairek, Sairek…” He whispered to him softly.

“Hnn…?” Sairek moaned as he weakly opened his eyes. He glanced out the window to see that the evening sun had gone into post-sunset. The sky was not yet black, but was fading, mixed with red and midnight blues; at least what he could see past the glowing lights of the dome, anyway. The city looked much different at night, with various lights shining either cool whites or warm oranges in all the buildings all lit up from various windows. The other side of the ocean was coming into view at certain angles of the rail track. There was a dim interior light inside the box so they weren’t in total darkness, though it made looking out the window hard as Sairek had to stare past his own reflection, to which he noted that he looked a little goofy with how groggy his expression was.

Cyial shook him gently again to get his attention and Sairek wiped at his eyes. “What…?” He asked.

“Supper time.” Cyial said, holding him up another grilled cheese sandwich.

“...Another one?” Sairek blinked.

Cyial shrugged, and handed it to him. Sairek sighed, but bit down into it anyway. The last one hadn’t filled him enough to satisfy. It only satiated him enough to get. By now he was pretty ravenous and finished the sandwich in record time.

“What are we doing when we get off?” Sairek asked aloud after he finished eating.

“Walking through the district, and checking out the houses until we get one that we like.” Varhi began to answer. “Then we rent that floor of the building and go to bed. Nayleen and I will fetch breakfast at sunrise.”

“Why? We can just use what’s in my royal jewel.” Sairek asked.

“No magic allowed, remember?” Varhi reminded him. “Traditional bags like my satchel are okay and work seamlessly within city borders, as well as retaining your enchantments, though suppressing them into a dormant state, but that gem spikes too much magic when you just toss everything out on the floor or reel it back in for it to work. Besides, no reason to give signals of you using your royal jewel here. Basically, as long as the magic stays within its container, it’s okay. Once it’s let out of its container though, the dome is going to slurp it up.”

Sairek frowned. “Ugh, right… I wish I knew that earlier though. Now everything we own is stuck in the jewel until we’re outside of the city.”

“Sorry, it didn’t cross my mind at the time.” Varhi shrugged.

“Oh well.” Sairek said, looking out the window again as the train shifted directions on the track it was on. “Oh,” He let out as he saw lots of pink and bright lights down below, sparkling with lots of water below, both the ocean, but what seemed to also be a boatway in a river, and even more, lots of fountains which sparkled and glittered under street and moonlights. “Is this the district you were talking about?”

“Yep, this is it.” Varhi said, leaning over Nayleen’s lap who also looked out the window with the mercenary. “Lots of pink, purple, white, lights, marble and water. The rooftops are no exception, either. Very cozy up there and you get to drink in “The View”. Also nice pools up there you can splash around or swim in. The swimming pools are heated, too.”

Sairek and Cyial looked at each other, Cyial giving a small smirk. It seemed the demon was already making plans for them both to splash in the water. “Will any of the rooftop housing even be available to us, though?” Sairek asked.

“Most people can’t afford them other than vacationers who are well-off. The richer don’t rent; they just own buildings outright. So we probably can find something. That said, other people can rent other ones nearby and see you, depending on how high the building we would get is compared to others.” Varhi answered.

“Does it really matter that much?” Sairek asked.

“Compared to your budget? No. However, some demons may get jealous if they see another demon walking around without its collar on too freely, or you enjoying Cyial’s company. It’s stupid, I know, but the other demons may cause mischief as a result. It’s not impossible and it happens, and you know I don’t like to take unnecessary risks. We can take out time picking and choosing the best one depending on what you guys want. You two will be there most of the time anyway.” Varhi said, then glanced at Nayleen. “If that’s okay with you, of course.”

Nayleen shrugged. “Doesn’t matter to me. As long as it’s not too far out of the way where getting in and out is a pain.”

“It’s agreed, then. You two can take your pick.” Varhi said, turning back to the two in front.

“How does picking work though? Do we go into the buildings and look around?” Sairek asked. “I don’t want to take up too much time. It’s already late.”

Varhi opened his mouth to speak, but glanced outside of the window as the station came into view and for the final time for their ride, the train began to hiss as it slowed for their stop. “Well, showing is better than telling, I do believe.” He smirked, standing up once the train slowed down to a complete stop, immediately stretching as he raised his arms above his head, with a subtle wince. “C’mon, let’s go. …Damn, my ass hurts for sitting that long.”

The other three stood up and stretched in similar fashion. Other people began to leave before them, and when they had space, they all began to climb out too. Sairek noticed that where they stopped, there was nowhere to go but a flight of stairs down. A section closed off from the rest of the train. The stairs down lit up by lights atop the circular tunnel. It took a couple of minutes to get back down to ground level.

On the way out, there was a gate, where they were asked to give back their passes, to which they and the other people ahead of them complied. They were allowed through without much of a word, and just like that, were back on the streets again, though the atmosphere here was much different with it now being night, and the pink and violet lighting, water, and even pink leafed trees, gave it all a luminescent and dreamy atmosphere. Long footpaths with many bridges over shallow streams of water, centered by fountains were everywhere, causing all the water to sparkle and shimmer as the water reflected the lights shining on the droplets. The statues themselves were lit up, and were a type of extraordinarily large crystal stone statues in various geometric shapes. They were somewhat white, somewhat translucent, which created even more beauty as they rotated very slowly around on pedestals, causing the lights that surface them to twinkle and sparkle.

Sairek blinked. “I guess with this bit being on the south side of the river, they have all the water they could ever need to pull this kind of thing off. They really played with the lighting here, didn’t they?”

“Yes. Definitely not the best for drinking though. However, it does get purified a little bit to make it less of a problem. Still not the best for drinking but not as bad as normal ocean water. Sometimes the younger kids don’t know any better.” Varhi said, rubbing the back of his head. “If you get a little bit in your mouth or whatever, it won’t do anything to you, though. Anyway, this is the industrial side of the district…” He paused, fishing into his satchel for the map they had purchased. “We want to go to the east side of the district. A little more inland, so, that way. It’ll be a short walk.” Varhi pointed with his left finger, before rolling up the map into his satchel again.

The group allowed Varhi to take point. The wider walkways here meant there was space to move more freely as a group, and with it now being night, there was less foot traffic to deal with overall. Sairek felt less of that claustrophobic feeling from this morning, and the space here felt far more open. Well, it was more than just a feeling; this district was more open, but finally for the first time since they got in the city on the ground, he was able to appreciate the massiveness and grandeur of Kior somewhat, and realize just how small he really was.

The buildings here were no exception to that grandness. There were fewer of them, but only because they were more massive and not just taller. Some were even connected via sky walks across the road as he looked up. He couldn’t fathom why people would need structures for shops or whatever businesses this big, but nonetheless, they existed. Lots of them.

Varhi led them down the street, took a turn, and then a couple of minutes later, took another turn, and the streets were quickly getting more quiet, the double pathway they were walking on merged, becoming just one and a little thinner. The street more… personal. The buildings were however, even more grand in size, but the streets were no less decorative despite being down here in what almost was an alleyway, if just a bit more open. They were almost the only ones on the street other than a couple people. Along the pathways, Sairek saw small little metal poles with boxes on them sticking off to the side of the road in front of each building.

“What are those?” He questioned, pointing at them.

“These are what we look to see what the residential looks like.” Varhi explained, stepping up to one. “See this huge dial on the side? You move this dial to the floor you want to check out.” Varhi explained. “On the opposite side is a button. And then you just look through these eye glasses on top of the box here, and press the button to cycle through the pictures. If you want to rent for the week, then you will hit this other button on the back, and you put the seru amount that is requested in the picture, and out will pop a key from this thing. Then you can go up to that floor, to that door, and it’s yours for a week. No interaction with another humanoid is required until the end of the week, where the owner comes to collect the next week’s rent.”

“What’s stopping someone from just running off with the key?” Cyial asked.

“No point. The key becomes useless if it’s not renewed.”

“...How?” Sairek questioned with a raised eyebrow. “Magic?”

Varhi shook his head. “Nah. I’ll show how it works when you guys decide. Not here though, let’s go further in. Getting next to the industrial side during the day gets very noisy, and it’s further away from the shops we’ll need.”

The group followed Varhi further, until they were reaching the point that they were basically the only ones on the street, though they were far from quiet. Sairek could hear noise from up above them, and was wondering where. Was that from the rooftops? It wasn’t loud exactly, but he could hear a couple of bits of musical instruments, or occasional cheering.

“Around here is good.” Varhi said as he slowed to a stop. “On the dials, you can see green, amber and red lights. Green means it’s available, amber means it’s rented for a week. Red means it’s rented for longer than a week. Usually a month, or it’s just not for rent for any other number of reasons. Look for ones that are green for the top floor.” He explained.

“How about we split up and go down the street? We’ll remember our favorites, and then have each other take a look?” Cyial suggested.

“And then from our favorites, we decide which one we like best after we both view? Sure.” Sairek agreed.

“Knock yourself out. It’s your money, remember Sairek. Though most places should cost the same, relatively, give or take a couple hundred seru in either direction.” Varhi reminded him.

“Sure.” He acknowledged. He took the left side of the street while Cyial took the right. He was barely tall enough to get his head in position to the lens as he dialed the floor and poised his finger on the change button as Varhi instructed.

The pictures had color, but were washed in a sepia tone; but it was amazing these pictures had colors at all. Most pictures he saw were devoid of color, or were painted or manually colored over, such as in books. Though the colors were washed out, he could make out the details in each picture. Many showing views of the vistas of the city from large glass windows, showing off the kitchen, the living area, bedrooms including the design of the beds, from many angles. It wasn’t as grandiose as his castle, but it was extremely different in style, and even the castle didn’t have such a view.

The second polaroid he looked at was different in style. There was a tree in the living area, with a fountain, surrounded by a small garden of plants. It brought a little bit of the outdoors indoors. It also had access to the roof outside, to which he could make out in the pictures,. The dwelling also had sofas, a small stream, tables; and a swimming pool, with a great view outside. There was a balcony too on the opposite end, which opened up towards the ocean side of the city, where it was far more open. In the first picture, the price of 630 Seru was labeled, which was affordable for a week too. Sairek pocketed the second polaroid into his mind to mention to Cyial.

There were many impressive places to look at, but the second one remained Sairek’s favorite from what he viewed on his side, but there were a couple of others he liked too, like one that was actually four floors, but opened up on all four floors, allowing a view of the entire living area down below or up above except for some specific rooms. In the pictures, they had to go up stairs, but there was a slide to go down easily, which he thought might be fun, though he doubted that was the intended purpose.

Sairek and Cyial both told each other the ones that were their favorites, limiting it down to the top three and they switched sides. Cyial’s first one wasn’t anything too noteworthy from his own favorites he had, but the last one Cyial had picked was notable. It was the tallest building in the area, giving them some privacy, and the roof wasn’t connected to other buildings. Much like his own favorite, there was a living area at the very top, with the same features; sofas, pool, streams, little footbridges to get from one side of the roof to the other, along with a skylight and a magnificent view and balcony. Inside the house was a fountain with a large tree in the center. The stairs were glass, where water underneath the glass flowed down into this garden. It was certainly beautiful, spacious, and had three rooms. It was only slightly more expensive than his favorite pick on his side; 680 seru a week.

“This one!” Sairek called out, pulling his head from the polaroid. His exclamation caused Cyial to look up, and he smiled at the Prince from across the street.

“Are you sure? I haven’t finished looking at this one yet.” Cyial teased.

“Definitely. It’s affordable and looks the best, and it’s private as well.” Sairek said. The other three from the group walked over to approach him.

Varhi gestured for permission to look, and Sairek wordlessly stepped aside. “Looks good.” He commented after a short period, then gestured to Nayleen to look too. She didn’t say anything at first, but as she was looking, she smiled. “It works for me. Put the seru in the slot here while keeping it on that floor, then hit the button at the back.” Varhi instructed.

Sairek glanced around briefly, then pulled his wallet out, grabbing the required seru and pushing the colorful little stones into the back. Then he hit the confirmation button. A few seconds later, the polaroid opened up completely, and a small rectangular piece of plastic was there. Confused. Sairek took it and examined it. “Um…”

“That’s the key.” Varhi explained. Sairek gave him a more confused look.

“It looks like a card.” He frowned.

Varhi smiled wolfishly.“Yes, which is why they call it a “keycard”. Because it’s a key, and looks like a card.”

“Oh. But how does it open locks?” Sairek continued to ask.

“Science.”

“Not magic?”

“Nope.”

Nayleen giggled.

“Well, pictures help, but let’s see our new home for a week in person, aye?” Varhi suggested.

“Right.” Sairek agreed.

They all walked up inside the building, which was an empty lobby room, with four metallic doors at the end, and a stairwell leading up. Varhi moved to the doors.

“Aren’t we going up?” Sairek asked.

“If you want to be climbing stairs for the next twenty minutes, sure.” Varhi said. He walked to the right-side-most door, where there was a panel and a button. He pressed the button.

Sairek looked at the door, which lit up a number, which began counting down, until it hit “01”, to which the doors opened, into a small room. “I don’t…” He began.

“You don’t know what an elevator is, do you?” Varhi asked.

“I heard the word a couple of times.” Sairek frowned, as he stepped inside, as well as the rest of the group.

“It carries things up and down. Like people. Without us having to do the climbing ourselves.” Varhi explained matter-of-factly. He pressed his gloved finger onto a button that said “RF” which was the first button at the top of the list of choices.

Sairek stumbled and his stomach felt like it dropped as the metal box they were in began to move. Upwards, he could tell, given he felt a little heavier. “That feels weird. We’re moving, but you can’t actually see—” He began, but was cut off as the back wall behind them opened up, revealing glass, to which they could see outside, and themselves steadily moving upwards, higher into the sky. “Oh.” He finished lamely.

“It’s a nice view though, isn’t it?” Nayleen asked, leaning back against the wall. The view was only getting better the higher they climbed. “Are you going to be okay, Sairek? Aren’t you afraid of heights?”

“It’s a lot worse when I’m exposed. I mean, my room at the castle is at the top, and I have a window overlooking the entire village and beyond, but I never felt fear from that. When you’re on a bridge, being in genuine danger of falling is when it’s a lot more scary.” He explained.

“Or climbing along the edge of a cliff?” Nayleen questioned.

“Yeah. Did you notice how I wasn’t freaking out on the train much at all?” Sairek asked.

The elevator slowed to a stop, signaling the end of its journey with a soft *ding*. Those who were looking out at the window view turned around as the metallic doors opened, and there was a short hallway with a door at the end, locked with a red light at the right side of it.

“Insert the keycard in the slot there, and swipe it.” Varhi explained.

Sairek stepped up, placing the card into a slim slot like he was instructed to, and swiped it carefully.

*BZZZT!*

Sairek jumped back a little, as red letters on the panel appeared. “What happened?” He asked, and frowned as he read the text on the screen: ERR: Too slow: Cannot read.

“Swipe it faster.” Varhi explained, leaning back with a smirk on his face.

“Okay…” Sairek frowned, giving a quick curious glance at the pad and Varhi’s expression. He placed the keycard in the slot again and swiped it much faster this time.

*BZZZT!*

ERR: Too fast: Cannot read.

“Oh for the love of—”

Varhi snickered into a full laugh. Sairek squinted at him. “Just do a bit of what you did the first time, mixed with what you did the second time.” He grinned wolfishly once more.

“You’ve set me up on purpose for this, haven’t you.” Sairek leered. With a huff, he placed the card a third time, and went fast – but not too fast, but not too slow—

*beep.*

The light turned from red to green.

“Finally!” Sairek exclaimed, throwing his staff and free arms up into the air in triumphant success.

“Congrats, you did it.” Nayleen giggled, giving him a firm pat on the back.

“It was a hard fought victory.” Sairek sniffed. “Come on, let’s see what’s inside. If it looks half as good as the polaroid, we’re in for a treat.”

Pocketing the keycard into his shirt, Sairek turned towards the now unlocked door and pushed while walking towards it—and then ran right into the door face first. “Oomph! The… The heck! But I—”

“It’s pull, not push.” Varhi supplied him.

Sairek turned to face him with a frown, staring as he gripped the door handle and pulled. “Thanks.” He said dryly.

“You are welcome.”

Pulling the door open, Sairek revealed the immediate living area space. In front of them they were greeted by a large tree with sakura leaves, sitting in a shallow pool of water which was streaming a lot of water down a miniature waterfall from within the walls near the rather spacious ceiling, splashing down from below. Just above the surface of the water, which caused the ripples and movement of the water to light up the walls with dancing blue patterns as the light reflected from the water’s surface along to the walls.

“Wow…” Nayleen let out, stepping closer to the tree and fountain. There were sofas along the walls, and dry areas to walk around without getting wet. “I wouldn’t mind sitting here for a little bit.” She commented with a little chuckle.

Sairek looked to the left and right, and began to circle around to his right. It seemed like the place was divided into a large rectangle, with more fountains and trees along the center for decoration, and stairs leading up to the second floor on the opposite end which was very balcony-like along the edges, but at the top of the stairs which split with water cascading down them under glass, were two doorways. Sairek remembered from the polaroid pictures correctly that the two side stairs lead onto the balcony which circled above the sides of the entirety of the first floor and lead into three separate bedrooms, and the path of stairs straight of head lead up to the roof access. As Sairek circled around to the opposite end with Cyial and Varhi, he could see they had a balcony on the opposite end of the elevator, overlooking most of the city and the ocean, where he could see lights on ships that slowly trudged along the water. On the balcony were three sofas, and a planter with another large Sakura tree in a corner that provided two of the sofas shade, he would assume, during the daytime.

Circling to the final side, this was the kitchen area, lined with a large dining table, many kitchen utensils and appliances that looked far more advanced than Sairek was used to. The entire time, the floor was tiled white, a very sheen and clean look; as were the walls, with occasional blacks, decorated with a couple pinks, matching the petals on the trees. The design itself was quite fancy and intricate, but as far as furnishings and decorations, there was next to none; though there was at least a velvet red carpet under the dining table. There had been other tables and chairs and loveseats to rest on, besides just the four fountains and trees that took home in the center “pillar” of the apartment, but as far as entertainment here specifically, there was little to do. Maybe most of that was for the roof, though. It seemed like the place to throw parties or whatever else city folk did on their off time here.

Varhi immediately walked over to the fridge and opened it, examining the insides. “Tsk… Well, that’s no surprise. They’re getting lazy…” He huffed, closing it back shut. “It’s empty. I’ll go out and find some fast food along with groceries for us to have.”

“Fast food?” Sairek asked.

“It’s basically pre-cooked food that’s ready to go.” Varhi explained. “Considering how many people live in the city, restaurants and food shops are all over the place.”

“How does a city like this even feed everyone? Where do they get the food from?” Cyial asked.

“You sure you want to know that answer? It isn’t pretty.” Varhi cautioned. Cyial nodded, and Sairek did shortly after. “Underground, they have massive farms of livestock. Very big. The only reason the animals exist is for being bred, getting nice and plump, and then killed to feed people in the city. We’re talking about thousands of chickens, cows, bulls, whatever else. It’s a wasteland out there, so there’s no natural farms either for plants as well. There’s giant greenhouses for that to feed the city population with such produce.”

Sairek made a face, though Cyial looked less disgusted; or rather, not very surprised at all about this information. “Of course.” Cyial frowned. “...Speaking of caged animals…” He began, turning to Sairek as he gestured to his collar. “Is it okay if we get this damn thing off me now?”

“O-Oh, right. I’m sorry.” Sairek began, lifting the bracer up to his chest, then he looked at Varhi. “...It is okay now, right?”

“Sure.” Varhi replied.

“Good.” Sairek breathed, “This button, right? And hold it?” He asked himself out loud as he held down the button.

The collar around Cyial beeped, and then with an abrupt lurch and hiss, it suddenly unlatched like a giant handcuff and slid off of Cyial’s neck and clattered to the ground. He breathed a huge sigh of relief, pulling off his gloves to massage his neck. “That was miserable…” He grumbled.

Sairek concurred with that statement by kicking the collar with his boot along the floor as it tumbled until it bonked against the kitchen counter. “That can stay there all week as far as I care.” He grumbled as he yanked the bracer off of his arm which had unlocked as well and tossed it uncaringly onto the dining table.

“Well it’s going to get in the way there.” Varhi stated dryly, reaching over to pick it up. “Besides, you’ll want it close by anyways, just in case authorities do show up. They’re gonna be watching you closely, you know. They even said as such. They’re not lying. At least try to look like you are acting the part while we are here.”

“Fine…” Sairek grumbled, grabbing it into his left hand as Varhi held it back out to him. Then like the bracer, he tossed it onto the table in the same fashion. Varhi rolled his eyes at him.

“Well, You two and Nayleen can pick whatever rooms you want. I’ll take the leftover one.” Varhi waved dismissively as he began to head back to the elevator. “Have fun exploring the rest of the house. I’ll probably be back in an hour, maybe sooner.”


“You don’t want to explore the house with us first?” Cyial questioned.

“It’s tempting but my empty stomach has higher priority. I’m sure everyone would like to eat a proper decent meal before turning in for the night. We’ll all rest better that way.”

Sairek silently agreed, reaching to pull out the wallet. It was starting to get lighter, but there was still more than plenty left for them to last months at this rate. Sairek handed Varhi exactly three-hundred into his open hand. “Will that be enough for a week’s worth of food for all of us?” He asked.

Varhi looked at the money. “If you want to eat expensive hearty food everyday. Are you sure?”

“I think we all deserved to eat well after what we’ve been through.” Sairek opinionated.

“Won’t say no to that.” Varhi smirked, clenching his hand into a fist to take the money. “I’ll be back in an hour or so.” He reiterated and waved, turning around to head back to the elevator.

Sairek and Cyial watched him leave as they followed, waving their goodbyes to him before the metallic doors sealed shut. Sairek then turned around, seeing Nayleen still sitting by the tree. “Are you okay Nayleen?”

“Yep. Just enjoying the moment of calm.” She answered, looking up at the tree. “Things have been so hectic and bad, we haven’t had a moment to relax at all.”

“Do you want to stay here for now, then? Sairek and I were going to check the rooms.” Cyial asked.

“Go ahead, you know I’m not picky. You can have the first choice. Let me know where the bathroom is though when you’re done.” She smiled in embarrassment, rubbing the back of her head. “I’d like to have a chance to properly clean up instead of just a crappy shower on a military boat. Clothes, too.”

“Ah, you’re right…” Sairek remembered, looking down at his outfit, which was in a sorry state of cleanliness. Cyial wasn’t faring any better. “We’ll be back in a bit, then.”

Nayleen gave them a farewell wave as she resumed gazing up at the tree or the cascading water, kicking her feet a little back and forth above the floor as they walked off. “I hope she’s okay…” Sairek frowned when they were back in the kitchen. “She doesn’t usually act like that. She sounds fine, though.”

The demon shrugged. “It may just be her way of unwinding. Beauty soothes the soul, or so they say. I’m sure once food arrives, she’ll be paying more attention to that than the pretty nature within the building.” Cyial smirked, which caused Sairek to snort out of his nose in bemusement.

They both walked up the stairs, along the thin balcony that looked down at everything below. “Getting past one another up here is going to be difficult.” Sairek noted as he and Cyial were forced to walk single file. Sairek wasn’t sure what material it was made of. It was transparent, like glass, but it felt firmer with more friction under his boots, and as he looked down, he wasn’t leaving any marks on the surface. It looked completely clean. It sounded like glass as he stepped on it though, but less hollow. Each panel was held up by several black steel bars underneath though, including the railing, so it held his weight just fine.

As they investigated the rooms, starting from the left and then going to the front of the apartment, then around to the right in a counterclockwise motion, they discovered that what room they chose mattered very little as all three of them were the exact same. Fancy, and extremely furnished with a comfortable king-sized bed in each room, with tables, chairs, dressers, a closet, and large bathrooms with gigantic and lavish tubs,. Each room also had a closet, and another door with stairs leading up to the rooftops, which connected via more stairs that eventually linked up together, which allowed at least an optional way to get to each other’s rooms if needed instead of the balcony. They decided since it didn’t really matter, that they would just take the left room, as Sairek liked the view there better from the windows. It was just the south side of the ocean, but it reminded him a little bit like home, and the fewer windows that faced their own room, the better as far as privacy was concerned. Though there were curtains, he didn’t want them shut all the time.

He and Cyial went up the final set of stairs to the rooftops and pushed open the door after unlocking it with a latch, which led them back outside. White hardwood greeted their shoes as they stepped out, to a lavish looking area, with water cascading down the walls, a wonderful view all around them, surrounded by a tall railing that was made out of the same transparent material as the balcony to prevent falling off the sides of the roof, plenty more pink-leafed trees, and in the middle, a pool area, the water being about ten feet deep.

“Wow. All of this is literally sitting on top of where we live? That has to be a lot of weight, surely?” Sairek questioned as he and Cyial slipped away from each other to take a look around. Sairek reached down, testing a sofa and one of the cushions on it, before plunking himself down for a seat to test the comfort of it. He sighed in relief, finding it to his liking. He looked around, seeing various plants in tall glass planters overhead across from where he sat, and curiously colorful rocks that sat in glass “containers” whom sparkled with the same water and light show that was used inside their place and they looked similar to the crystals they saw down at ground level. The water’s gentle ripples and shimmers caused the minerals on these rocks to sparkle and dance, thus lighting up the rest of the rooftop as well in the nearby vicinity to these rocks. This was certainly lavish, designed to impress. It looked beautiful and the seats were comfortable. At this point though, Sairek wondered if it was trying too hard. His castle was grand, and to a commoner, it probably looked amazing, sure; but even the castle didn’t try this hard. This was looking expensive just for the sake of it.

Cyial leaned down, peeling off his gloves and pocketing them into his robe as he tested the streams of water with his finger, first the streams next to the foot paths. Then he moved over to the pool, sat down on his knees, and leaned down to dip his finger into the water there. “The water is pleasantly hot.” He confirmed, shaking the excess water off of his finger. “The water in the streams is cooler, but still warm.”

“I’m tempted to dip in right away, but we should probably properly clean up before doing that. By the time we do though, Varhi will arrive with the food and we’ll be ready for bed.”

“Well, we each had our time napping on the train. We can probably afford a late night and sleeping in a little, I suppose. I feel like it will be a late morning for us tomorrow either way.” Cyial shrugged, standing up. “I’ll go tell Nayleen that each room has a bathroom, and then we can clean up before Varhi arrives.”

“Sure.” Sairek agreed, pushing himself up off the sofa. “I wonder why all of this is out here like this, though. Wouldn’t it be bad if it rained?”

Cyial looked up at the large dome in the sky and frowned. “...Maybe it can’t rain. Not with that thing in the sky.”

“Something to ask Varhi when he gets back, I guess.” Sairek frowned.

* * *

Sairek grunted with effort, then flinched as water splashed at his face. He shook his head to rid the excess water, then glanced at Cyial, who too was desperately trying to clean his robes, using the method the demon had taught him. This was actually their second attempt at it, as they both sat in the fairly large tub of their own personal bathroom, wearing nothing, since they were washing everything; the clothes they were cleaning had so much grime and dirt on them, that they had to drain the water and refill the tub. Yet despite the initial washing, stuff was still coming off as they continued to scrub everything. The water was starting to become cloudy again.

“Sheesh, this is rough.” Sairek huffed, wiping beading sweat off of his forehead with his left arm, then shaking his wrists a bit to try and relieve tension that was building in them. “Even my underwear hasn’t been saved.”

“You were sitting in practically only that for a while when we were cleaning your clothes from the blood. Sand does that.” Cyial stated, then pulled up his own underwear from the water, examining it, he frowned. He pulled the drain out, letting the water begin to drain once more so they could get another fresh batch of it. “I didn’t think we’d still be scrubbing forty minutes later.”

“I can’t use magic to dry them, either. We’re gonna have to let them hang. Thank goodness there’s those bathrobes in the closet.” Sairek frowned, watching the water completely drain, before Cyial pushed the plug back in, and began refilling the tub a quarter way anew, pouring more generous quantities of soap into the water and sloshing it around gently.

“You know, you got pretty used to this quickly.” Cyial noted, watching Sairek.

“Well, I trust you, and… well, you’ve seen me naked enough times by now anyway. I definitely wouldn’t feel comfortable with anyone else. I was starting to get shy with Laure since about last year. Before then, it seemed just like her job, but I guess I started getting pretty self-conscious about it for some reason.” Sairek blushed.

“That’s normal.” Cyial said, dipping his underwear back into the water and resuming to scrub. Sairek mimicked him. “That said, having some dignity is healthy, too. Otherwise, you become like Varhi.”

Sairek laughed at that. “I think for him, it’s more out of ignorance than anything else.”

“I’d almost believe it, except he was definitely flirting with Nayleen. So he has at least a basic understanding. Even more of an understanding now, I suppose.”

“They’ll probably do it again some day, you know. Is that okay?” Sairek asked.

Cyial blinked at him. “What do you mean? We have been basically doing that. Uhm, well, last time was purely because of my hunger I suppose, but…” He hesitated before resuming. “I still can’t believe you liked learning about all of that stuff…”

Sairek splashed the water a little, shoving his clothes down into the water hard as he blushed. “I said I didn’t hate it…! It’s just… morbid curiosity!” Sairek tried to save face with a concentrated frown, then resigned himself to his fate with an exasperated sigh. “Okay, fine! I liked it! It’s just— It’s exciting to learn about that kind of stuff... to me. A-And it doesn’t help that your hunger plants a bunch of images inside of my head, either. It’s not like those feelings are unpleasant at the moment, you know,” he grunted.

“Yeah, yeah…” Cyial smirked. “I wouldn’t mind feeding more, if that’s what you mean. I… still should hold it back some. Just in case.”

“Are you still hungry?”

“Very. Though the whispering has stopped.” Cyial admitted, then frowned. “Compared to before though, feeling like this is quite… nice. I haven’t felt this ‘good’ for months. Half a year even, perhaps.”

“How often do you need to eat?” Sairek asked.

“I have no idea. You are my first meal, you know, but I think it depends on how much I exert myself, in a way.” Cyial frowned in thought. “I’m well into my thirteenth year -- according to Father Abbot, anyway, so I am still growing. It’s possible as I continue to mature, that the need to feed becomes more and more frequent. I don’t have my horns yet, after all.”

“You’ll… get horns?” Sairek asked.

Cyial blinked at him. “You went from how often I’d need to… do things to you, to suddenly being curious about my horns?”

“Well… Yes?”

Cyial stare at him blankly, then just bowed his head as he laughed out loud.

“So?” Sairek smirked, poking him playfully on the shoulder with a wet finger.

“Lands, Sairek. Well, I don’t know… It could happen any time now, I guess. It could be tomorrow, it could be in a year or two.” Cyial answered, then looked at Sairek. “Probably around the same time you’ll get your own changes to your body.”

Sairek blushed at this and looked down at himself. “I don’t know if that’ll happen any time soon… I’m still pretty small.”

“Your height is, but everything about you is fine. And you’re probably hitting your growth spurt as we speak.” Cyial commented. “Haven’t you noticed any changes yet?”

“Well, my mood is certainly getting more cynical.” Sairek frowned. “You said hormones can cause that, right?”

Cyial smiled in amusement at that. “Yes,” he answered curtly as his smile faded, “but I think that’s less because of the hormones and more of what has happened to you. Either way…” Cyial paused, moving over to grip Sairek’s left shoulder and giving it a tender squeeze. “Things like your shoulders are starting to get broader, and I suppose you were already gifted naturally with muscle; some people are, but you’re getting even more definition now. You’re starting to lose the baby fat. Even your voice at least sounds like it’s on the cusp of changing to a deeper tone. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s just a few months to a year before you start seeing major changes, Sairek.” Cyial watched The Prince, who actually frowned at hearing this. “Sorry, I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable…” Cyial apologized.

Sairek shook his head, moving up to cup Cyial’s hand that was on his shoulder. “No, it’s not that. I mean, I stopped feeling like a kid years ago to be honest, with how much work Father put on me. I just… wish I had more time to enjoy it, you know?”

“There is still time.”

“I don’t know about that anymore…” Sairek sighed. “Not with what we discovered… but at least we have this week. For this week, I just want to at least try to pretend everything is okay, for my own sanity.” He looked down and his frown deepened. “...For now though, we need to wash the evidence of all of this… this shit, away.” Sairek huffed, going back to scrubbing furiously.

“Yep, definitely more cynical.” Cyial teased. “When did you get such a dirty mouth?”

“I guess I always had it. I just refrained from using it. Father pissed me off, a lot. But cursing at him would make things way worse... usually.” Sairek replied. “Laure would dissuade it too, but she did let the occasional word slip if I was extremely agitated.”

“You do only seem to curse when agitated or upset.” Cyial noted.

“I’m neither of those. I’m scared. Scared for what may be coming in our future.” Sairek admitted.

“The neutral council won’t let a war happen if they can help it. We’re doing what we need to do. Besides, those crystals are corrupted. Nobody would be able to use them in their state anyway. Some third party trying to take them away would be met with resistance by all the other countries plus the neutral council—”

“Cyial… That’s still a war.” Sairek cautioned him.

“...I guess you’re right.” Cyial frowned, disappointed that his attempt to calm Sairek’s state of mind ended in failure. “But still, what I am trying to say is that no country would be stupid enough to attempt that.”

“Avotash sure tried against me.” Sairek sniffed. “Thankfully my Father’s persistence on giving me lectures about how the jewel works and to at least learn to defend myself a little bit seems to have paid off after all.”

* * *

“Which one do you want?” Cyial asked Sairek, holding up two bathrobes after they had toweled each other off. The demon held up a white one, and a brown one.

“...Are there not any other colors?” Sairek asked.

“...Do you want black, or… pink instead?” Cyial asked with an owlish blink.

“...They keep the color scheme of the robes the same with the house!?” Sairek asked, admonished.

“Apparently.” Cyial replied, glancing back into the closet briefly.

“Uff… I’ll… just take the white one.” He forfeited, taking the robe in Cyial’s hands, and then putting it on and wrapping the sash around his waist to cover up his otherwise naked form. The robe was comfy and soft, but a bit too warm for him, given the climate they were in. Considering the only clothes they had were currently waiting to be dry though, he didn’t have much choice. This was better than walking around in the buff.

Cyial also chose a white robe to match Sairek and slid it on over his body. Both robes on them were too large for them, but it looked even more ridiculous on Cyial, who’s robe nearly touched the floor. “Ugh… This has to be for someone at least two feet taller than me.” He frowned, lifting his arms up and attempting to fold the sleeves up so his hands had some chance to peek out into the open without being covered.

“Tell me about it…” Sairek frowned, trying to cover his chest and tightening the sash so it wasn’t so revealing, but it wasn’t working.

“Aw, don’t do that. You look cute when it’s open like that.” Cyial teased him. Sairek felt his ears burning.

“You look like you’re only six years old like that.” Sairek quipped back.

“I feel like I am only six years old.” Cyial pouted, flopping his hands in surrender as the sleeves of the robes had too much slack for him to even fold them up, so he just left them. “This is barely covering me up and is threatening to fall off.” He said, adjusting the neck portion as it threatened to fall off of his shoulders. “Maybe we should just stay up here and have Varhi deliver the food to us. We’re still practically indecent like this.”

“Just pull it around yourself like this, like it’s a blanket. We can eat up here though, if you want.” Sairek suggested, pulling his robe closer around himself.

“I suppose they wouldn’t care…” Cyial murmured in resignation, mimicking Sairek’s actions. It really did look like a blanket around the smaller demon.

“Guys!”

“Hm, what impeccable timing.” Sairek responded, hearing Varhi’s voice calling them down below. “C’mon, let’s go. I’m starved and thirsty. No damned water on the train at all.”

“Ugh…” Cyial let out in forfeit as he followed Sairek outside of the room to peek out over the balcony to look down at Varhi below, who in return, was looking up at them.

“Food~” Varhi cooed suggestively, waving a brown paper bag in his left arm left and right slowly, like he was attempting to hypnotize them with the offer, despite needing no encouragement, at least for Sairek.

“We’re coming down. I can smell it from here.” Sairek said, moving to walk towards the stairs, with Cyial in tow. They reached back into the kitchen where Varhi was placing all manner of food and other produce inside the fridge or on the table, but leaving the paper bag on the table separated, allowing Sairek and Cyial to investigate its contents. Sairek opened the bag up and looked inside, seeing four white wrappers. “Pick one each.” Varhi instructed them. “They’re all the same, so it shouldn’t matter.”

Sairek pulled out two, for himself and Cyial and offered one to the demon, who struggled to take a hold of the item whilst keeping his robe decently closed. They both sniffed it, and Sairek’s stomach growled in anticipation. There was a smell of freshly baked bread, meat and vegetables. The meat smelled like chicken. Unable to wait until he got up to his room, he unwrapped the food to examine it further to see it was a type of burger, seeing the meat was a pattie lined with tomatoes and lettuce and probably other things he didn’t get to see before he bit deeply into and tore a section off with his teeth. It tasted good indeed, though not as good as Nayleen’s cooking, but this would satisfy him easily.

“Oh yeah, and here’s some drinks.” Varhi offered, pulling out two cans and sliding them on the table to Sairek and Cyial. Distracted from his burger, Sairek picked up the can and turned it over. “What the heck is this?” He questioned.

“Soda. In other words, a carbonated and sugary drink with some type of flavor associated with it. Normally it packs quite a punch, but I got us some watered down versions. It’s cheaper and less unhealthy.” Varhi explained.

“How do I…?” Sairek trailed off, turning the can over.

“Oi, do I have to explain how to eat and drink every time?” Varhi sighed, temporarily pausing his putting items in the fridge to walk over to Sairek to explain. “The pin on the top, see? Place your fingers under it and pull it towards you. There you go, then push it back. Perfect. Now you can drink it.”

Sairek looked at the container that held his mysterious drink inquisitively, before placing it at the tips of his mouth and took a decent gulp. His eyes bulged slightly and he blinked, water welling within his eyes at the taste as he swallowed. “What the…” He gasped, hand gently clutching his throat.

“Are you alright?” Cyial asked, concern hinted in his voice.

“Yeah. I just… I didn't expect that. It does taste good, though. Sugary, almost, but it’s the acidity that surprised me.”

“So where’s Nayleen?” Varhi asked, as Cyial gingerly held his own can and peeled it open while trying to keep his robe around himself without peeling off.

“Probably still in her room. We were all cleaning our clothes. She took the center one over there.” Cyial answered with a quick side-shake of his head.

“She’s probably still cleaning hers. Ours were rough enough. My fingers are still sore.” Sairek answered. “We should probably get your armor clean too. You’ve been bleeding all over the place. And it needs to be sewn back together where you got hurt, too.”

Varhi looked down at himself, the bloody stains on them not doing him much favors in look presentable. “Yeah, I already got flak about that when shopping.” He rubbed the back of his head. “Do any of you know how to sew clothes back together?”

“I can do it.” Cyial offered. “If it’s just stitching it back into one piece.”

“You can put people and clothes back together? Impressive.” Varhi smirked.

“Ah, well… When I was much younger, I may have had a habit of poking holes into clothes because of my tail.” Cyial mumbled in embarrassment. “So, Father Abbot taught me how to fix the clothes, because he was getting tired of having other people have to fix them. Then I kept it tucked in like a good boy, after I got bullied badly for having one…” He took a sip of the soda, and his expression shifted. He clucked his tongue as he swallowed. “...This is watered down? My taste buds are exploding. Varhi, it’s so sweet...”

Varhi cocked his head to the side a little. “You get more used to it the more you drink. Sugar is kind of like that. The more we consume, the more we want. Well, for us humans anyways. I don’t think your demonic metabolism actually cares much for sugar like a human body does. Maybe that’s why it tastes so sweet for you. You can always pour more water into it to mellow out the taste more.” Cyial immediately turned to the sink to do just that, gently turning on the water to put a few dribbles of water into his drink. “Anyway,” Varhi continued, “I don’t call myself a cook, so I just bought what I thought would be good. Fruits, vegetables, eggs and some game as well as milk and butter and a bit of sugar. Also brought some juices and things like salt and pepper. It should serve to make half-decent meals for now.” He explained, turning back to the fridge to pull items out of his satchel that at this point, truly started to seem bottomless. “It’s basic I guess, but it’ll give us some healthy variety for the week. We’ll do another trip before we leave the city to restock for when we will be out in the wild.”

“Sounds good.” Sairek said, already halfway done with his burger and drink. He had planned to eat it upstairs in the room with Cyial, but his stomach had other plans. Cyial hadn’t even unwrapped his yet.

Varhi soon finished putting things into the fridge and closed it shut, idly wandering past Sairek and Cyial as he gazed out one of the numerous windows. “It’s still kind of hard for me to believe that I am back here again… I just wish it was under different circumstances.”

“Why did you want to come back here anyway?” Cyial questioned him, turning to face him.

Varhi paused for a moment before answering. “There’s no specific reason in particular. I didn’t like Masirean though, you know how I feel about magic so Ceareste was out of the question, and Malode is boring. Besides, I want to learn about my past self sooner rather than later, and this city is where Jimmy found me, so there has to be at least some thread of my past and how I ended up here somewhere. It’s going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack though. I doubt I’ll be able to find anything in a week.”

“We could always stay here longer?” Cyial offered. “As long as I don’t have the collar on me, I don’t mind.”

“Things are set in motion that are far more important than my past. What has happened with me has already happened; I’m just curious on what that is. Unless I die or everything goes to complete shit, I can always come back here to figure it out later. My current primary goal is to get back at that two-faced bastard and do whatever I can to free Jimmy from that sunuva bitch’s clutches. Right now, that’s getting myself and you guys to the neutral council.” Varhi explained, leaning back against the counter and crossing his arms with a smirk. “Sorry, but you’re stuck with me for a while longer.”

“What a pity.” Cyial replied in dry sarcasm. “Looks like I’ll have to continue working overtime.”

“Aaahh, I feel better now.” Sairek sighed, finishing his drink and meal.

“You sure ate that fast. Are you okay?” Cyial asked. “You usually take your time and enjoy it slowly.”

“I am now. I guess my appetite is starting to come back after not having eaten very much in so long.” Sairek blushed slightly in embarrassment. “But anyway, are we really just going to sit for a week?”

“Rest is important.” Cyial nodded. “We’ve been under a lot of duress for nearly the past three weeks, Sairek.”

“Well, you three will be. I got places I want to check out.” Varhi mused, one of his folded arms moving underneath his chin in a fist in a thoughtful expression. “First there’s the matter of my ship, I’m going to have to make a deal and have it held for a while in storage, so I have to go set up and pay for that. Then, since Belgarion is now out of the picture, I need someone to refurbish my sword so it remains sharp, then I need to go replace all of the gear I’ve lost in Karvadean, and then also I need to visit a few bars and taverns around town for the latest gossip. And then after all that, I still need to go shopping for supplies for us so we can leave safely without dying in the desert.”

“Hold on now, you need to rest, too.” Cyial protested.

“It’s fine. I don’t care much for sitting and lounging around anyway. I prefer to be doing something active. Though admittedly, most of it is going to be sitting on my ass in a train. I have to go all the way back north and then all the way back here after I am done to pay for ship storage. That is sixteen hours being in a train alone. I’ll probably rent a room at a seedy tavern or something for a day or two so I don’t have to do so much riding back and forth.”

“I won’t allow that until your wounds are healed.” Cyial frowned. “If they reopened again and nobody’s around to help you, then that would be bad.”

“I’m starting to feel a lot better than I did this morning, though.” Varhi protested.

“Doctor’s orders.”

“But you are smaller than me!” Varhi argued.

Cyial’s left eye twitched and he provided Varhi an even look.

“Err… I mean, you are younger than me!” Varhi’s face paled.

“I am older than you are.”

“In human years!”

“What does that even mean? Both Overworld and Underworld use the same sun…” Cyial blanched, then turned to Sairek. “Can I smack some sense into him?”

“No smacking each other.” Sairek forbade him, causing Cyial to pout slightly.

“Come on, you know by tomorrow the wounds will be all gone. Or basically all gone anyway.” Varhi boasted.

“...Probably.” Cyial agreed dryly. “Because somehow, you are superhuman and recover insanely quickly even without the aid of magic.”

“You say that like you want me to stay hurt.”

“That’s—no. I just don’t understand it still, is all.” Cyial clarified.

“Well, I plan to stay put until I am all better, just for you.” Varhi offered.

“Now you’re patronizing me.” Cyial sighed. “Let’s go, Sairek.”

“Oh—Okay…” Sairek didn’t have much of a choice as Cyial used his tail to wrap around Sairek’s arm to pull him along, back up the stairs.

“Good night~” Varhi called to them as they reached their room door on top of the balcony in an overly cheery tone of voice that would normally be out of character for him if it was not laced with sarcasm.

Cyial ignored him, though Sairek looked down and nodded his head in farewell. Cyial pulled him into the room and gently closed the door behind them with a frown. “We really do need to figure out how he heals so quickly.” He mused in a tone that showed he wasn’t actually annoyed at the mercenary. He released Sairek’s arm with his tail, opting to wrap it around himself to try and keep the robe around himself.

“How do you plan to do that?” Sairek inquired.

“I ‘unno.” Cyial slurred with a shrug. “It’s not out of the question for some items to be enchanted to help aid healing someone’s injuries gradually over time, but those enchantments are powerful. Powerful enough for even us to sense them, and I don’t sense anything like that on him. Besides, Varhi makes his detest for magic known. Aside from the bag, and arguably his boots, nothing he owns is magical. So, it has to be something else.”

“It isn’t just some superhuman ability he has?”

“Not even trolls from the underworld regenerate wounds that quickly. And he’s clearly a bonafide human.” Cyial hummed in thought. “I’d probably need to run experiments on him, but that’s… wrong. Unless he volunteered of course. But maybe…” Cyial trailed off.

Sairek watched him for a few seconds. “Do you think it has a connection to his past?”

“I do. It’s not natural, Sairek. I know I’m sounding like a broken music box at this point, but it’s impossible without… something. Something beyond both my comprehension, and even my book’s.”

“You’ve been looking it up.” Sairek asked more in a statement than a question.

“Yes. I’ve been curious for a while now. Once I learned it wasn’t just a one-off in Karvadean.” “Interestingly, it does seem to be tied to his metabolism. Those bruises took a while to fade away until he started getting food, then when we got hungry again, the healing slowed down. So I do expect by tomorrow, assuming he eats tonight, he will be pretty much good as new.”

“Speaking of eating…” Sairek began, then pointed at Cyial’s food and drink. “Are you going to have those?”

“Are you still hungry?”

“Only if you don’t want them.”

“It’s not good to eat so much before bed, Sairek. Especially with this kind of food. You’ll wake up with a sore stomach.”

“It’s also not good to eat at all. I have weight I need to gain back from these past two weeks.” Sairek argued. “Again though, only if you don’t want to eat it… It’d be a shame to waste food.”

“I’ll split half with you, then.” The demon compromised. “I’m not very hungry, but I should eat a little of something. It’s not very much, but food and drink does give me a little bit of energy. Mostly the drink.” He unwrapped his tail around the robe as he peeled the wrapper from the burger off, then using the blade of his tail, slowly and carefully sliced the burger in half, handing it to Sairek.

“Thanks.” Sairek said happily, quickly digging into the food.

“I guess you were right. Your appetite isn’t usually like this.” Cyial commented, watching him. He nibbled on the burger himself.

“Mhmmm.” Sairek hummed, mouth full of food, so he couldn’t give a verbal reply. The half-burger was down in his mouth in only a minute. “Ahh, I feel better now. I’ll go brush my teeth before we lay down. I haven’t had a chance to do that in far too long. Laure would be miffed at me if she knew.”

Cyial moved to sit down on one of the three sofas in the room, placing the wrapper of the burger on his lap to catch the crumbs as he continued to nibble slowly at the burger and drink, until Sairek got back. By the time he was finished eating, Sairek was finished with his task as well. They basically traded places, where Sairek offered to clean up while Cyial brushed his teeth now.

Sairek moved to carry their wrappers and drinks back downstairs, where he saw from up above, that Varhi was merely sitting at the kitchen table, either not having begun eating yet, or already finished. He walked around and down the stairs to move to throw the items in the trash, and seeing how there was already a drink and wrapper in the trash, the other boy must have eaten already. “Are you okay?” Sairek asked, as Varhi was still staring ahead.

His voice caused Varhi to blink and jerk in a brief alert state as he turned to face Sairek. “Oh. I’m just thinking.” He answered.

“About?”

“About how the heck I am supposed to get Jimmy back after all of this.” He answered as he turned back around, facing the tree and waterfall from the table. “With any luck, the neutral council will call for his release, but I doubt that will happen. He did trespass on Ceareste, afterall.”

“Uhm… S-So did I, for Masirean…” Sairek mumbled.

“Not really. You’re twelve now and because of your position, technically you are now a part of Ceareste’s military. Yes, it’s a ‘technicality’, but it should be good enough. Masirean hired for Ceareste’s military expertise. You’re lucky you didn’t go a few days earlier before you turned twelve, or else you would have a problem. But you didn’t, so you actually have a reasonable defense, even if the real reason you went was a selfish one. Jimmy however, doesn’t.” Varhi explained.

Sairek frowned. As Varhi put it, he was indeed ‘technically’ part of the military force as a leader, though twelve-year-olds like him could join, but that’s basically to enter training for years to become real soldiers. Children weren’t expected to do much of anything related to military missions. Usually it was the older teenagers or younger adults who got sent off to do welfare checks on villages or smaller towns who had no to little soldiers; like Doran.
He supposed Varhi was right, it was a defense, but he wasn’t sure how strong of one it would be.

“Jimmy couldn’t be let off based on the fact he helped expose what was going on?” Sairek asked.

“Two wrongs don’t make a right.” Varhi answered simply. “Not in the eyes of the law, anyway.”

“But he trespassed in my territory, too, and he did that first. Can’t I just have him requited?”

“No, because Jimmy is under ownership of the King based on his contract. So if he breaks any laws, it’s Avotash’s responsibility to punish him if he sees fit, and since he disobeyed orders—...” Varhi paused for a moment, then blinked in realization. “Hey, that actually does give me an idea. Thanks, Sairek.”

“Oh. You’re… welcome?” He said, then waited. “Well?” He pressed, with Varhi not responding.

“Well what?”

“What’s the idea?”

“Oh! Nevermind about that. I need to think of the details about it first to make sure it’s actually a good idea and not just an idea.” Varhi waved his hand. “You should get back to Cyial, shouldn’t you? He might get jealous.”

“Um, I guess.” Sairek frowned, unconvinced, but he didn’t press it. “Good night then, Varhi.”

“Sweet dreams, Prince.”

Sairek turned around and walked back up to the room, where Cyial sat on the bed waiting for him, having abandoned the bathrobe to prepare himself for bed. The demon was testing the mattress of the bed as he sat on it testingly with a hand.

Sairek soon joined him, mimicking his state of undress, rolling the robe up into a ball and plopping it on a couch somewhere as he moved to sit on the bed, and then yelped as he bounced up and down on it more than he expected. “Woah, that’s too springy.”

“It’s actually not because of springs. It’s a waterbed.” Cyial informed him.

“...A what?”

Cyial gestured for Sairek to get up, and he did. Cyial stood up too, pulling back the covers and sheets to expose the bed itself.

“There’s… literally water inside of the bed?” Sairek asked, blinking with owlish eyes.

“Mhm. I’ve heard of them a little bit, but I’ve of course never slept in one before.” Cylal replied, slipping inside the bed while he had the covers pulled back. “I hope my tail doesn’t cause damage to it… If the tip scratches the surface of it, then we’ll have quite the mess… I suppose the material could be a bit more durable than that, hopefully.”

“Uh, how do you keep your tail secure when you sleep anyway?” Sairek asked.

“Umm… Well, I kind of don’t. That’s the problem.” Cyial rubbed the back of his head. “I don’t think I move it much, but…” He trailed off.

“Well, it’s hot enough that we don’t have to use the covers if you don’t want to. The blankets should provide a thick enough buffer for the bed.” Sairek suggested

“Are you sure?”

“Cyial, I’m undressed completely and I’m starting to sweat and smell again despite the shower we just had. Besides, you’re plenty warm enough as it is.”

Cyial didn’t need any further persuasion.He shifted himself back out from under the covers and scrambled on top of them, putting them back in place, before laying down on top of them. Sairek moved to turn off the lights of the room, then frowned as he looked over to the window to still see a bunch of lights streaming in through that. He walked over and grabbed one side of the curtain, tugging and pulling it across, then walked over to the other side, and pulled that side closed shut too. The window was a good thirty feet across. Once everything was closed off, he moved to the bed, getting on his knees as he positioned himself over Cyial.

“U-Umm…” Cyial managed to meek out, his face confused and red, until Sairek leaned in, kissing him hard on the lips. The demon quickly reciprocated the affection, wrapping his arms around the Prince’s upper back loosely in a hug, until Sairek pulled back a few seconds later.

“I just wanted to check something.” Sairek smirked.

“Check something…?” Cyial replied inquisitively.

“If it still felt right to do.” Sairek answered, then smiled gently. “It still does.”

Cyial’s expression broke into a big smile, the shyness evaporating. “Well, that’s… comforting to hear, Sairek.”

They both stared at each other’s eyes, emerald eyes facing garnet ones, until suddenly they both began to hiccup into giggles.

“I’m so relieved we’re safe at last.” Sairek whispered. “This… isn’t perfect. But we’re safe, for now.”

“Me too, Sairek…Let’s hope it lasts for at least a little while.”