"Take a seat!" Shouted a high pitched voice from behind Lian.

"Please don't make this weird! I just want to talk." She demanded in a gentle sing-song.

Lian turned around to find a girl, no taller than himself smiling a wide smile. She wore a tight dark colored brown vest with swirling complex etches of what appears to be machine parts all over and a matching brown skirt with small fluffs of stripped white puffs at the edges just barely reaching over her knees. She wore long cream colored boots with pointed dark brown tips matching the shirt she wore under her vest; all-the-while a warm orange fire slowly revealed a pair of glistening eager brown eyes.

"What are you staring at? Are we going to talk or what?" She questioned with a look of confusion.

The girl reached towards the center of the rounded wooden table with a small red tipped match and reached her hand towards a strange goo-like red candle; it’s wick slouched just atop a decorative leaf shaped plate at the center of the table as most other tables had arranged.

“You! Other boy! Light this candle! I want to see who gave pig face a run for his money!” She commanded.

The lights in the hallways could just light up Taylum’s face enough for Lian to see his disdain for the strange girl before them. Lian nodded his head at Taylum as Taylum scowled at his gesture. With only a single corrective glare from Lian, Taylum reluctantly lit the the drooping candle. As the candle lit, the droop it once had dissappeared alongside the long fish hook-like wick of the candle. The wick slowly reeled itself towards the center of the candle with a tiny yellow spark of gentle consuming flames, slowly revealing the girls face.

“Well! This is better. So, how much did you pay him? How many talons to see the great Armanto?” She asked with a smug look on her face.

The fire of the candle wasn’t just any fire Lian was used to, it was oddly circular with a pulsating shape to it. It was as if the candle was a tiny volcano that spewed many different shaped bubbles of bright orange lights that dissappated effortlessly into the wind with a long swirling tails of light in it's wake; some bubbles even landing on his hand like a swaying feather. If it wasn’t hurting, Lian simply brushed it off as yet another mystery of New Dwarden; although not as pressing as the mystery before him.

“W-who are you?” Asked Lian with a cautious stutter.

“Sophia is my name. If your nice to me, you can call me Sofi.” Teased Sophia.

A blanket of warm fire tinted light grew from the center of the table like a revealing blanket. Lian wasted no time in staring at the girl, desperately looking for some sort of otherworldly feature like sharp teeth or scales. To Lian’s relief she, as many other people, appear normal for now. Sophia had long brunette hair with a face no older than twenty two. She wore a small amount of freckles that sprinkled just around her nose and cheeks and flourished a near perfect shiny white smile, even in the low light of the candle before her. Just like Taylum had worn previously, she wore goggles on her head, only these appeared much larger and much more expensive as it had many tiny gears that rotated endlessly within it. Her hair, while mostly straight, was somewhat wavy as it swirled from it’s edges, something Lian compared to maybe gentle upward facing hooks at it’s tip. Sophia's swirly bangs waved from under her goggles and even over the band that held it. She carried a leathery brown backpack on her back with a big cog shapped zipper at it's opening. Lian also couldn't help but to observe that she overall appeared somewhat thin but he also was cautious that someone brave enough to eye down to two strangers was likely to have more than what there appears to be.

Sophia gestured Lian to sit down in one of the four chairs available. Taylum gladly took the seat across the table without a second guess. After examining the girl a moment longer, Lian too -reluctantly- took a seat. Sophia simply matched her movement with his and took the seat to Lians left and Taylum's right.

“I’m uhh… Scorples and this… this is-uh…” Said Lian, in an attempt to introduce himself and Taylum.

“Tayoiggis! My name is... Taoiggis.” Interjected Taylum with the grace of a firecracker.

“Nice to meet you Scorples! And -uh… Tao-giss…” She grinned confidently.

Lian noted that her accent was a slightly different from the usual variety of hybridized European accents he had exposed to. He recalled the many times he was visiting Europe with his parents as a young child, perhaps 8 years old he thought hard, for meetings he had otherwise no obligation to as a child. Overseas he did pick-up the different accents and often attempted replicating them to his mother's amusement, even occasionally cracking a smile from his father. Sophia’s accent was a more British accent mixed in with small pint of maybe...Scottish…, he thought long and hard, although he didn’t know for sure. Lian felt a slight sense of pride and accomplishment as he had finally encountered an accent reminiscent of someone from home, at least this was the first time he could acknowledge it.

"So..." She muttered, munching on a piece of bread.

"How are we getting in?" She asked.

“What do you mean we?” Replied Lian suspiciously.

“I need to speak to Armanto inside.” She confided with a gentle whisper.

“Are you going to help me in or not?” She grumbled.

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“No. I just introduced myself to you a couple of seconds ago. I don't really know who you are.” Replied Lian, his steadfast gaze frozen onto hers.

Taylum stood up from his chair in defiance of Lian, nearly tumbling the candle off its decorative plate and onto Lians lap. Before Taylum even had a chance to speak, he had already succumbed to Sophia’s and Lians oppressive auras.

“What do you mean NO!” Sophia scoffed loudly.

“I don't know who you are.” Replied Lian, his voice brutally unmoving.

Sophia’s eyes turned from an innocent brown to a what felt like a pulsating red towards Lian. Just like Taylum, she rose from her chair with a vengeful conviction and approached Lian with a tremoring fist.

“I’ve got news for you Squirple or whatever!” She barked in a fury, her  right hand grasping at Lians shirt.

“If your going to assault people! You don’t need us!” Retaliated Lian, escalting his voice.

“Oooooo, now  the cheeky guppy is PISS-ED.” Yelled Darbis down the hall.

Taylum peered over to Lian and saw that an unnerving amount of rage boil from beneath his eyes. His lip quivered like a erupting volcano as he intercepted Sophia left handed thrust with a tight grip to her wrist Lian just below his chin. Both stood before each other with enough conviction to push Taylum off his chair and onto the ground below.

“OK! Shhh...shhh! OK! OK! Scorples. Sophia. This is why almost everyone that was one this floor left! CAN WE JUST SHUT UP FOR TWO SECONDS!” Screamed Taylum at what felt like was the top of his lungs, so loud in fact, even the atrium appeared to have yelled back.

As Taylum finished his outburst, so did the last two people leave, their meal of what appears to be a giant turkey leg and big potato wedges were half eaten at best.

“You blokes need to learn to silence your tongue. Go enjoy the parade outside like the rest of you kiddies! Dim simpletons, the lot of you!” Said the drunken man as he stepped into the elevator next to the stairs.

Sophia and Lian turned to the drunken man with the ferocity of rhinoceros. Both seemingly synchronized to the smallest blink.

“Gettin outta here. Flippin psycho's twigs.” Whispered the drunken man as fumbled into the elevator with a newfound fear.

“Taylum and Lian!” Summoned a very soft spoken voice down the hall.

Lian turned his heads towards the angelic voice faster than he could even process who was calling him. Taylum appeared to know who it was right away.

“Lian! It’s her! Let’s go!” Cheered Taylum, his voice nearly cracking in excitement.

“I wish you took slightly longer Ye-Stefa. That boy and girl were boiling like two little cauldrons.” Laughed Darbis, sipping his smoking pipe.

“I head there yelling from here.” Mocked Ye-Stefa.

“I don’t think Armanto would appreciate that for his business.” She sneered, while gesturing Lian, Taylum, and Sophia to come closer.

Lian gently let go of Sophia’s wrist -as if he was embarrassed of his actions-, picked up the basket with the fox snug inside and began walking towards Ye-Stefa. Sophia had hesitantly let go of his shirt, still visibly angry.

“I thought your names were Scrimples and Taoigal or something.” Grumbled Sophia.

“Woops. Uh… look at the time...” Laughed Taylum nervously.

It didn’t take long before Taylum got up from his rickety wooden chair to follow Lian, although he couldn’t help but glance backwards at Sophia’s bowed head.

“Why do you want to talk to Armanto?” He turned and asked with a heavy sigh.

“He’s got something I need.” Mumbled Sophia.

“Like what?” Asked Taylum, visibly struggling to catch up to Lian’s oddly quick walking pace.

“Don’t worry about it.” Replied Sophia, turning quickly away from Taylum and Lian.

Taylum turned halfway around to see Sophia almost at the elevator, checking her wrist for wounds where Lian had gripped her. As Sophia continued to walk inside the small circular metal elevator, Taylum took a long look at Sophia and noticed he had seen this kind of anger before, this scenario feeling uncomfortably familiar to him.

“Hey Sophia… whatever it is. I’m sure Armanto can help you.” Offered Taylum with a confident smile.

At the elevator, Sophia was at the verge of pulling the orange metal lever on the wall that would of taken her down the atrium. Just as she tightned her grip on the black rubber piece at the end of the lever, she noticed her legs were shawking, and her heart pounded. 

"I am so close." She thought, holding her hand tightly to her chest.

"Give him another chance..., I'm still trying to figure him out too..., but i believe he is a good person in a bad place." Confessed Taylum.

"He seems to lack any empathy? I don't know if I wan't to deal with someone like that.” She doubted, gesturing at Lian who was practically in front of Ye-Stefa already.

“He gets mad sometimes… and uh... apparently so do you. C’mon, you can make-up after ” Comforted Taylum.

“Hm.” She smiled hopefully.

“How can I trust you?” She asked, her finger caressing her lip in uncertainty.

“Something tells me you already started. I don’t know any other reason you would approach two strangers.” Chuckled Taylum, as he walked ahead.

“Hm. One more question.” Commanded Sophia.

“Why are you so nice to me?” She questioned with excessive authority.

“I don’t know. I guess I feel like I have to be with all these angry people I keep meeting. Maybe some good people have bad days.” He remarked, just barely catching up to Lian.

"You coming? Or not?" Urged Taylum.

Lian hurried just in front of Ye-Stella, eagerly awaiting to enter the giant iron door Darbis had previously been blocking. Taylum and Sophia staggered just barely behind, somehow trying to avoid Darbis excessive fog cloud that he seemed to always have around him.

“You guppies lied about your names. I won’t FOR-GET.” Said a voice from behind the fog.

“Well everyone. Come in. We have much to discuss. Armanto is waiting.” Said Ye-Stella, her voice fading beyond the door and into the darkness before them.