This was super unfair!

Arienne fumed. She was just trying to stand up for everybody, because Carolline was behaving like a major jerk. Again! Yes, they were loud, but so what!? It couldn’t be helped! Someone needed to take that brat down a notch or two, and no false claims were made on Arienne's part, that's for sure. Bully, busybody, liar, and in general a horrible human being - that description fit Carolline to a t. So why was it Arienne alone who ended up in the headmaster's office…?

Of course, no one took a minute to hear her out. Her behavior obviously couldn't be tolerated! She was a nuisance, she was intolerant, and, above all, she flouted authority by refusing to accept her rightfully earned punishment.

Since it simply wouldn't do to let that last one slide, detention it was. Two hours of sitting in a dusty classroom, wasting time and being bored out of her mind. Two. Whole. Hours.

And then…!

Well, then she is late for everything, all her plans are ruined, and all her friends are swamped with chores. So nope, no cheerful shopping with Mish today, no delicious strawberry-chocolate ice cream afterward, and totally no free time anywhere on the horizon. Yeah, all that, and to top it off, a grocery list longer than a history textbook. Thanks, Mom!

Just… just… unfair. Absolutely, hopelessly unfair.

Arienne gave a long sigh, resolving not to cry. She would not cry because of Carolline, ever. Period.

At least she liked the market; that, she had going for her. There was something exciting about so much food in one place. Arienne couldn't help but wonder how many ways were there to cook it, what exotic dishes could people create, and what everyone around her had in mind. They came here for a reason, right? It felt as though inspiration floated between stalls and booths, infusing spices and vegetables and promising something amazing out of the mundane. Arienne firmly believed the world to be magical, if only for her eyes. But preferably for everyone else's, too.

Not that it would help her with the bags, but the bright side is better than the other side. On the bright side, you can see!

And so it happened, Arienne saw plenty this day, albeit not at all what she had expected.

For a while, everything was going pretty normal. She picked out stuff, carried stuff, thought about maybe needing some more stuff or other stuff, looked at people buying stuff, daydreamed a bit, and so on. She might have sampled a thing or two, though details appeared hazy. She almost forgot to get her change twice, too, but folks here were nice. On the whole, an ordinary outing to the market.

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"Hey, listen up, you weaklings! My name is Morgenstern, and this market is now my territory! If you have a problem with it, then I'll break your sorry necks!"

Okay, on second thought, maybe not that ordinary.

The guy screaming, as she soon found out, looked fairly intimidating, what's with all the tattoos, bulging muscles, bald scalp, and full-leather getup. He even had a tattoo on his face! A kind of red-black demon-like thing, and really ugly, too. Under different circumstances Arienne would've probably changed sides of a street specifically to avoid him. Mom always taught her to sidestep unnecessary trouble.

Today, though, she found herself drawn to the epicenter of it, if only because the proclamation rattled her. His territory? Who in the world he imagined himself to be? No one had any personal territories here. Her neighborhood served as a place open to everyone for as long as she could remember. No upstart with a loud mouth was going to take it away, not if she has anything to say about it!

Her indignation flared up so high she didn't even recognize that people around her hurried to the exits, precisely in the opposite direction of where she was heading.

"How dare you!"

He turned to her. Strangely, in those moments Arienne felt utterly no fear. Yes, her voice trembled, but only because she was just so angry.

He gave her a short glance and laughed.

Arienne suddenly noticed that they pretty much remained alone in the improvised square at the center of the market. She dropped her bags and stood straighter, though it barely made her eyes even with his chest, naked under a sleeveless leather jacket.

"Don't you look away from me! I asked how dare you!"

"Little girl, get the hell outta my face." His voice rumbled deep and guttural.

It didn't make sense. At least somebody else should still be here. People weren't so easy to run from some punk, no matter how big and intimidating.

That was when two very important facts came to her attention. First, the guy had a massive bat cupped with a thorny ball hovering at his side. Like, literally hovering. He wasn't holding it, it hung in the air all by itself.

Second, there were spikes everywhere. Sticking out of the pavement, skewering stalls, running down makeshift lanes, everywhere. Huge, small, thick, thin, in every spiky shape and form. Arienne couldn't even begin to guess what happened here or what might it mean. Her almost sixteen years of experience failed her.

Then she felt a huge arm grabbing her.

"When I give an order, you obey, girl!" he growled.

The world went askew, her shoulder screamed in pain, and she found herself on the ground, staring up at him towering over her.

"Move it!"

She didn't cry. She didn't run, though mainly because she didn't trust her legs. Instead, she fought back using the only means she could think of.

"Oh, so this is it? You think you can get whatever you want since you're big and can push people around? Loser!"

This proved to be exactly the right thing to say. Or the wrong one, depending on your perspective. Either way, the huge tattoo-covered guy who just threw her down immediately went into murderous rage.

"Loser? No! I will not be a loser! I. Will. WIN! And you" - he looked at Arienne with murder in his eyes, spittle spraying from his lips - "you are going to be taught!"

Lurching, he stomped, and the pavement moved, and it hit her, or pushed her, or tossed her, and it hurt, and next she was flying through the air, and she couldn't do anything, why couldn't she do anything, she couldn't even grab onto something… And then there was darkness.