Dark is seen as a curse

Shadows are not cast but born of fire.

And the brighter the flame the deeper the shadow

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Blimps and small airplanes were said to be quite common in the major cities, as they were far away from the forgotten lands. After all, no rich person would want to go sightseeing in a barren land which is deadly to all humans.

Which is why Valinia seldom had blimps and small airplanes.

The blimp above me however, had an entirely different purpose than simple sightseeing. The sigil of a sword piercing the sun on it marked it as the church's blimp.

‘Reconnicense’, the newspapers called it. ‘Reevaluation’ for retaking Dresa.

But I knew what it truly served for.

Some crazy noble must have had too much money. That or that they have truly started to use them for human trafficking.

I crossed my arms and clenched my hands tight as I looked at the blimp from the bustling streets. It was rush hour and people were in constant haste. Too preoccupied to notice who was on the sidelines of the streets.

No one knew that the most notorious ‘butcher’ in all of Valinia was right next to them. Nor did they know what the people they all trusted did in the shadows.

They all simply lived their lives. Some heard of human trafficking, but did nothing about it. Along with all the others they were too busy with their own struggles to ever see the pain of others.

Only sheeps and demons existed. But at least a couple of the demons could be chosen to protect. A lesser evil instead of a great one.

When the person I heard about came into my sight, walking on the busy street with a hat over his head and a walking cane, I pulled the rags a bit over my face and receded into the narrow street corner.

I made my way to the sewage hole and crouched next to the lid. When the man came round the corner and spotted me, I opened the lid, gave a nod towards the sewage and entered.

I quickly hid in the shadows and watched him as he slowly made his entrance. First putting his head through the hole with a serious expression, only to jump in legs first into the sewer. He looked around himself as he entered. “Hello…? Where are you?”

He didn’t seem disturbed by the smell. Which instantly put me on guard.

When some of the slaves came to me with the news about this man, ‘Darwin Petrikov’, I didn’t believe it. And I still couldn’t believe it. I tapped the wall next to me, grabbing his attention. “Follow.” I whispered and started to move deeper into the sewer.

“Isn’t this more than enough?” He asked, his voice echoing through the dark pathways, but I didn’t listen. I made sure that I stayed far enough from him so that I could run and disappear in one of the many dark pathways, but not far enough for him to lose me.

‘Darwin’ was too calm. He was too used to the stench, he had fancy clothes, he didn’t react so badly to his fancy clothes when they got wet with shit and dirt, he had a well groomed beard. He made my skin itch.

I hated him and his stupid walking stick.

But if he truly was what the slaves said he was, I would have to help him and to use him.

Minutes passed, and the only source of light came from small cracks in the ceiling, from which sun rays managed to leak in and shatter the utter darkness. ‘Darwin’ kept calling out, asking me to stop, but I kept moving silently. I would not talk to him in a place where I didn’t have the best advantage.

With a couple of quick turns I lost him and made my way through the pathways. Not too far from him, not too close, I listened to him.

Among him calling out to me, and the echoes of his words. I could not hear a hitched breath. Not in this dark graveyard, that housed assassins and hound dogs of the nobles. Not among the ‘notorious butcher’ of Valinia.

He was too calm.

“Darwin Petrikov, you and your daughter settled in Valinia two years ago, even though almost everyone wants to get out.” I started talking, looking at him from the darkness, trying to hear him hold his breath, or even catch a glimpse of his expression.

It was too dark to tell. But the man did turn silent. “I wonder how someone like you, who by your own ledger barely keeps his own business afloat, manages to supply all those freed slaves with clothes, a train ride and even money for a future…” I left my words hanging, echoing through the dark halls.

‘Darwin’ turned to where I last stood. “My parents left me a small fortune.” I could practically hear his smile and at the same time I couldn’t help but feel a chill at the man’s calmness. “And Ashur did not give each and every one of us a price tag.” He continued, his tone passionate and determined.

I hummed. “And what about your daughter?”

“...What about her?” He asked the darkness around him, iron in his voice.

“The nobles could be vengeful if they found out about you.”

“Speaking from experience?”

The weight of my knives became much heavier. As if they were begging to be noticed. The man got on my nerves as he was clearly fishing for information, while I couldn’t get anything directly out of him.

I didn’t answer his question, as I decided to jump towards my final solution.

In the utter darkness, I silently and swiftly got behind him, holding a knife not so far from his neck. As he waited for a replay that would not come, I pulled my Sol and it came out like a wave.

How would an inquisitor or a noble’s assassin react if he suddenly knew that there was somebody using Sol right behind him and holding a knife to his throat? Attack. Run. Perhaps even yelp, after all it happened with a few of the assassins, never with the inquisitors.

The man however, didn’t even flinch. Not a twitch. Not a change in the way he breathed.

I pulled back without him seemingly noticing. I gritted my teeth together at the conundrum wearing the mask with the name of ‘Darwin Petrikov’ “You don’t seem bothered by the smell.”

“...Have you ever been to the slums? It’s almost the same.”

“Why the fuck are you so calm?” I seethed at him, the thought of leaving him here in the darkness flashing through my mind.

“...Because I believe in you. I believe that you are not a bad person.”

I froze feeling my entire skin start to itch. “...Move forward five steps and turn right.” I told him and waited for him to move. I listened to his steps and counted. “Eight steps forward and then duck, there is a small bump on the ceiling… two more steps… Turn left, go five more steps.” I guided him through the darkness until the sound of water falling started to get louder.

After a few more turns, ‘Darwin’ was at the giant hole in which dozens of pipes had water following out of them. He was standing on one of the metal bridges, looking around him at the enormous mechanisms. At what I came to call home.

With a bit more light than in the pathways, I could see him gawk all around him. I could also see some stuff that I had left on the metal bridge. Ragged clothes, scraps of food, and a couple of knives.

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In other words, all that I had.

Feeling the tips of my ears get hot, I decided to keep looking at him from the edge of the pathways.

‘Darwin’ did eventually spot my belongings and gave them half a look. “Is this where you live?!” He connected the dots quickly and shouted, trying to get his voice over the dozens of flowing waters. “It's kind of beautiful!”

I grimaced, not knowing what to say, or how to keep talking to him with the water ever flowing. “Shit.” I grumbled to myself. Quickly using Sol I dashed through the pathways until I came upon a small chamber.

For all the steam wonders we have had, there were some mechanisms that were overlooked, too deep in the underground to be remembered. From my exploration and small information gathering on the sewers, the entire sewers system had a grander design that was never brought to life.

Using the momentum of the flowing sewage water as a source of energy, the entire undercity was supposed to be a power source for something… Just like the steam in the engines of vehicles.

For some reason, that my history teachers had never apparently known, it didn’t come to fruition.

But there were a couple ways to operate the entire system to a certain extent. Inside the chambers was a glass window overlooking the hole, but hidden by falling waters. The special thing about the chambers were the leavers. While all of them looked old and had their written purpose wiped off because of time and mold. I had managed to experiment with them quite a bit.

Pulling the right levers, I heard mechanisms turn and churn. In the distance something heavy dropped and the flow of water partially stopped.

I didn’t want to stop everything, not only that I would need to set everything back to place. I barely knew if the entire place should still be working after more than seven centuries.

If 'darwin' looked amazed by the scenery before, he looked shocked now. Slowly walking up to him he faced me with his mouth hung open.

"...Are the sewer systems the same in every city?" He slowly asked, eyeing the entire place.

"I guess?" 'Darwin' kept gawking, entranced, but his eyes were telling something else. Obsession was holding them.

"Do you know how to operate them?" Before I could even deny any knowledge I had, he chuckled. "Of course you do. You live here." He pointed at me and smiled brightly. "You are amazing. You know that right?"

I blinked a couple of times. Darwin seemed to forget the purpose of our meeting, and even though I felt the urge to drag us back to it, I held back, and stared silently.

After a moment he seemed to acknowledge my gaze and apologized. "As you know. My name is Darwin, Darwin Petrikov." He announced, taking off his hat and bringing it close to his heart, revealing black hair. "And you are?"

Even though I knew that he would ask me that question at one point or another, I couldn't help but stiffen a bit. "My name doesn't matter.” I got a bit closer but not too close. “I was told you had information that could help me, let’s get to it.”

Darwin set his jaw and nodded. “Yes. I had a few friends from the church that say that the nobles are going to take a ride in these blimps alongside most of their assets." The fact that he was in cahoots with the church made me stiffen, but he continued unbothered

"I guess that you have already snooped around the abandoned mansions to figure out that there were no leftover slaves, after all they wouldn't just leave their mansions without their slaves. Which leaves us asking…"

"Where are the slaves?" Coldness pricked my spine. There were no mangled body parts flowing through the water pathways. No dead corpses on the slum streets. Were they burned to ashes?

Your fault.

Warm blood dripped through my fingers. I was clenching my fists too hard again. "How many of them left? How do I catch them? Did some of them leave yet?"

Darwin eyed my hands for a split moment. "...The last four are left, they are all that remains of the nobles in the city, apparently they decided to board the first blimp that is heading back to Itesa."

"How do I get to them?"

Darwin stayed quiet.

The knives always knew when to get heavier. And at that moment I wanted to lift him up and threaten to throw him off into the abyss. "How."

"You'll need to get on the blimp. The blimp that is currently at the church's ground, surrounded by inquisitors and crusaders alike, not only that. But.” Darwin stopped and blinked, his eyes widening as he stared at me. “...There is no stopping you, is there? What do you plan to do? Barge in there and kill everyone?”

“What does it matter to you?” I was wasting time with him. I turned around and started to walk back into the pathways.

“I can arrange a way in! Even if you do make it through the underground, you’d still have a long way to the blimp!” He urgently made his offer as I was one step away from leaving him alone in the dark underground labyrinth.

I stopped and frowned. Drawin may not have been a Sol user, and he did help the slaves escape from Valinia to somewhere else… But at the same time he didn’t really tell me where he sent them.

Nor did he explain why he had friends in the church.

A merchant of his stature is a couple big steps away from being a noble. But it is still only a couple of steps away. Any sort of information, false or true could help, and if he offers to help…

“How?”

Darwin breathed softly, relieved. “Let me pull some strings, arrange a supply ride for the church. You’ll be hidden in the cargo, we’ll be in the heart of the church and you could get on it with less trouble. less chance of getting caught. Less chance of you needing to kill anyone.”

I turned around and stared down at him. “Is that your goal?” I seethed. “To save the rotten people of the church? After all they had done?”

Darwin put his hands to his sides, palms open towards me. “There are good people there. I kno-”

My blood started to race “What do you know?! Do you know of the deals the inquisitors have with the nobles?! Do you know what they have done? To me? To the people they were sworn to protect?!”

Darwin stood unwavering. “My daughter was saved by them. In Dresa.” He said simply, the resolve in his eyes made my thoughts stop. “...Do you know what it feels to have the only person you care about in this world tell you how she was saved by people that she didn’t even know? By people who threw themselves into the demon horde, who were eaten alive? Torn limbs from limb?”

“...There were no… There were survivors? From Dresa?”

“Few. Very few. I don’t expect you to know, they came in droves, managed to survive sometimes in whatever ditch they found. Only those who were lucky enough to be in the presence of an inquisitor or crusader, that is.”

I… I don’t remember… In truth, I was too young, everything moved so fast at the time. Every single thing.

Mother. At your last moments did you think of me? Did you want me by your side? No, what that man did was too horrible for you to want me to be by your side, wasn’t it?

I closed my eyes hard, as old memories started to come up. “...After my mother died… I was taken by an officer and sold to some noble’s lap dog… That noble. He was using the children as…” My stomach started to turn upside down as I slowly recalled what happened. But for some reason, my mouth wanted to open up.

“He… I don’t know what happened to the ones who didn’t come back to the underground cell. But I know that some kids didn’t return as they were… Something broke in them…” I shook my head, trying to stop talking, feeling my eyes start to burn a bit as the memories started to flood.

“...What happened?”

“An inquisitor happened. Killed everybody, children too and burned everything to the ground. I got lucky.” I wiped the tears from my eyes and looked away from Darwin. Memories of the monster who hunted me came rushing back.

The sound of crunching snow under my trembling feet. My heart beating so hard while death seeked me out inside a maze of leaves.

“...How did you get out..? Do you know which noble it was that took you?”

Sigmar Senguinix. The name popped into my head. It was always there. The dead man alongside the horrible memories. “It doesn’t matter.” I said, calming my breathing.

Darwin looked at me for a moment, mauling over something in his head. He nodded and leaned on the rails of the metal bridge. “Do you know why at least? Why would they do all of this?”

The ramblings of the insane bloody inquisitor came to my mind, foggy, but sharp at the same time. “Needed money. They had lost their friends, but their friends had families. They needed to keep them afloat somehow. That must have been their only way.” I explained and leaned on the railing too. But after looking at the abyss below I decided to lean with my back and look away from him.

“Do you know if all of them are in on it?”

Yes of course they are.

“No.” I said surprising myself for a second. The memory of the last inquisitor. The only inquisitor I had ever fought to my near death came to my mind. “Maybe a couple of them don’t know, I don’t know. But I don’t see how they couldn’t know either.” I shrugged.

Darwin hummed and stayed silent and so did I. He was staring hard at the giant hole beneath us and playing with his fingers.

If what he said about being able to get me into the church was true. It would be much safer and easier to do than find an entrance to the church from the underground. After all, I had never come close to that place. In truth, It was only the momentary rage that made me want to kill them.

I knew that it was foolish, and nigh impossible for me to take even one in their own turf.

“...If you get me into the church’s grounds, I will try to avoid them as best as possible.” I conceded and looked away from him. “I’m only after the nobles.” I clenched my bloody hands at the mention of the city’s parasites.

Darwin hummed. “...And the slaves?”

“What about them?” I asked furiously. “They are already dead, Nothing we can do but butcher the fuckers who killed them.” I said, hearing Mother’s whispers at the back of my skull. Cursing. Blaming.

I will avenge them. I will avenge them all.

“I was thinking that the nobles might have taken them aboard the blimp. Their cargo actually seems to be a bit too large. But from my intel… If they can even be trusted… I have heard nothing of human trafficking.”

“...Then I will check the cargo too. Do you know anything besides that? Where the nobles will be on the blimp or how many inquisitors or crusaders there will be? Or even how to get on it in the first place? Wouldn’t it be heavily guarded?”

“I don’t know where their exact location on the blimp will be. I do know that normally there are about two dozen personnel, with about eight Sol users. But with the nobles and their escorts? Five dozen. It’s a large construct, and not everyone will be awake all the time. It’s all about the timing and their shifts.” Darwin nodded to himself and pushed himself from the railing. “...Same thing with getting on the blimp. We have one more day until it leaves. You’ll get in early and hide. preferably until it is airborne, that way the entire church won’t be chasing you on the ground.”

I stared at him and gave him a one over. “...You were preparing for all of this? How can I trust you? Who are you really?”

“Yeah.” He chuckled lightly. “Ever since I understood you wanted a meeting I have been thinking about what you might want to do. Figured you’d chase them as you always have.” Darwin started to rub his hat gently. “.… I don’t… I can’t start to fathom why you… Why have you gone to such lengths. But I do know that you are helping people. And I… Just want my daughter to live in a peaceful world, a world without the people you have been hunting down.”

I stayed quiet, going over what he told me in my head. Darwin watched me calmly, expecting my answer. “I’m… My name’s Regis.”

“Regis. That’s a nice name.”

“...Thanks.”

Darwin made his way to me. And to my own surprise I didn’t tense when he offered me his hand to shake. Slowly, but surely, I shook it. Meeting his curious eyes, I realized that he had another goal other than simply helping me.

The man knew I wouldn’t harm him, not when he is the first person to ever offer me aid in my endeavors. He also knew my own intentions, and now he knew my name and from up close, my face too.

After we shook hands, Darwin gave a gentle smile. I started to walk slowly towards the pathways, Drawin in tow when he started the conversation anew. “How old were you? When it all happened.”

I gave him a one over, not expecting the question.

“If you don’t mind me asking.” Drawin stammered.

I turned back to look towards the dark pathways. Only when we entered them and were surrounded by the darkness. I began to talk.

Our walk was slow. But the conversation didn’t stop until we were out. I didn’t know what compelled me to talk and confess. To tell of the nightmares, of Mother, of the hate and endless killing. Nor did I know what made Darwin listen, put a hand on my shoulder and give me a hug as I cried.

When we were out, I felt exhausted, but at the same time I felt lighter.

Darwin straightened his clothes out and checked himself out. He didn’t belong to my world, to my misery. It was my burden alone to carry. He would simply help me this once, and I would never see him again.

Making up my mind I decided to drop into the hole without saying goodbye. Only to get grabbed by Darwin. “Regis. You are not going to sleep there again.” He pulled me along into the streets and for a moment I felt the urge to sprint back inside the sewers. “You need a shower, and even more than that, a nice bed to sleep in. You will be sleeping at my place.”