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A second, [glitched] chance
Chapter 51: Without Mayana

Chapter 51: Without Mayana

Kiresula spent the next few days in her cell doing nothing at all. She paced, spent a lot of time in bad thoughts and in general having a miserable time. She didn't want anything to happen to Kedsel, she wanted to see Kju and every fibre of herself yearned for Mayana. She missed her wife so much that she could barely eat.

Kiresula's only human contact was with Haina who came by every few hours and made a silent gesture after giving her the tray of food and taking the old one away. She understood it and drained herself for a new [Forbidden fruit]. She had to produce the fruit every 8 hours for Haina. Every time, it drained her magic and stamina. She couldn't even pace when she had her vitality sapped. She did Serenity to restore her magic in the meanwhile. When she didn't spend time having bad thoughts and taking her time being annoyed, angry, sad or pissed off with her previous actions, that is. The Holy Order, on the second day, left her a Holy Text which she refused to read. However, in times when she felt at her worst, she did use it as a drum and drummed the rhythm of Serenity to keep herself concentrating. It was utterly frustrating how she was out of contact with everyone she cared about. She spent her time missing everyone. Really missing human contact. She thought it was a good idea to attempt to get out but she saw no way to do so. After a few days, she got the achievement of running completely out of stamina several times in one day and received a minorly improved restoration. This got her pacing faster. She hated everything about being there but found no way out. And she had no way to stop her ever churning thoughts.

When a person who was not Haina entered the room, Kiresula worried. The person mentioned: "You can go! There have been no signs that you were involved with the disappearance and the disaffiliation of the former Holy Guard Kedsel."

Kiresula breathed a sigh of relief. Then she asked where the others were, especially where Mayana was. There was a pause, then the person said that she had been released a day ago.

Kiresula cussed and decided to go where the glitchlings originally planned to go to: the glitchling place under the city. The city was bustling and quite loud. Merchants hawked their wares, children were the kind of adorable nuisance that one sighs about in the moment and reminisces about when they had grown up (or if, gods beware, something happened to them), livestock brayed, mooed, barked and whinnied, people chatted, haggled, traded, aired grievances, got to know each other, had various moments of clumsiness or levity, and so much more. She looked around and tried to get her bearings. Eventually, she was able to read the city to the point of getting around the building in which she was told, there was an entrance into the underground and to the glitchling caves. She entered and moseyed quietly downwards. The building contained several apartments and the din of life was heard. This was where she saw a group of teenagers who seemed to just hang out. Kiresula waved: "Hi there, do you mind letting me through to the caves?"

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The oldest of the group laughed: "What can you offer us for that?"

Kiresula rolled her eyes. "If you are like that, I will find another entrance."

The teenager looked at her suspiciously: "With what stamina? You are a glitchling."

She smiled: "I have enough of that. But of course, if you are looking to rob someone, I would suggest not to. I do not want this to end in violence and I am sure that you will agree."

There was a pause, then the youth responded: "Glitchling, we run this house. You do what we tell you. And what we demand is money. So, either comply or not. But if not, we will beat you up. Get it?"

Kiresula looked frustrated and then she responded: "Do you really want a beat up? Even if it's you who ends up beaten up? I don't think that this is a good idea for someone who only recently got integrated into the system. I have levels and experience on you, little guy, and I do plan on using it."

Another pause, then the teenager tried to throw a punch at her. She dodged easily and threw a Fire Strike at the guy. He didn't expect that to happen.

There were screams and shouts from the others in the group who did expect a glitchling to go down from a gust of wind and not to hit stronger than a piece of cloth being moved towards someone by a weak wind. To actually take damage shocked the guy as well as the others.

Kiresula looked at him and sternly said: "Will you let me through now, or do I need to hurt you for real?"

A guy looked at her, sized her diminutive figure and responded: "You know, I do not think that you are all that, I think that you glitchling are pretty mouthy for being a disgustingly weak creature that cannot advance."

She rolled her eyes and said: "Are you looking to be hit in the face very hard? Because I can gladly provide this. Do not underestimate me!"

Then, she struck him with another [Fire Strike]. There was a quick scuffle, an exchange of amateurish blows and kicks and the occasional hair pulling. The situation presented itself that after a few moments, Kiresula had the assailant in a grapple and told him: "You're a good little boy now, right? You stay away from the glitchlings and you keep a good moral demeanour, okay? Can't have you bullying glitchlings when we are working on defending ourselves. Okay?"

There was a momentary pause. The group looked at her as if they had attempted to steal candy from a baby, only to end up with several broken limbs because of said fight. Their expression showed a disconnect between what they assumed would happen and what actually did happen. They looked as if they suddenly found themselves on the moon.

Kiresula nodded to them: "Even glitchlings can have enchanted items. So don't make the mistake of underestimating anyone. Especially when my wife is working on getting enchanted items into this settlement for just that reason. Got it?"

The teenagers looked shocked all of a sudden. “You’re with that terrifying enchanter that uses fire blades‽ We are so sorry! Don’t tell her about us! Please!”

Kiresula smiled as something in her soul settled. She finally felt that Mayana was safe.