Now entering the Kashi slums. Brace yourself for deployment Pilot.  

Wait what- 

And then it began. It felt as if my body... as if the very cells that composed every fiber of my being, were being pulled in every direction. Like I had fallen into a pit full of lava and my very flesh was melting from my bones. I could feel it as it replaced the air in my lungs and burned me from the inside out. There were a million icepicks stabbing into my skull and it felt as if it might burst. I wanted to scream. But I had no voice. I wanted ANYTHING to make the pain STOP.  

When I finally thought that I would go insane from the agony I fell, flat on my ass, and hard. There was dirt underneath me and the world around me began to render in. It was night time, and as the buildings around me started to form I began to see why they called it the slums. Directly in front of me was a bar, or maybe just a shack. The only reason I assume it was a bar was due to the obnoxious neon signs polluting its every surface. As sketchy as it looked, there was some energetic music spilling into the outdoors from inside. And the energy was magnetic, almost as if it was beckoning me to come inside.  

Welcome to the Welcome Center Pilot. Please proceed into the establishment.. directly in front of you!

“What kind of fucking tryhard trolls the noobs at the welcome center!” A raspy female voice howled behind me. It was followed by a loud gunshot, that sounded more like a small cannon than a bullet.  

“Mind your own business Arachne! We’re all doing what we need to in order to survive! People barely spawn here anymore and it ain’t easy in the slums!” an excruciating male voice responded. He sounded as if he had smoked a pack of cigarettes every day for the last one hundred years. Something in my mind told me that he probably spent a few years working in the mines. The raspy voices were sort of a trademark in the slums for that reason, and yes the enviorment had the ability to permanently impact you character; just as it had on the surface.  

Another shot was fired, “I said get the fuck out of here!” 

His voice began to retreat into the distance, “Fuck you!  Act like you’re any better you fucking bounty hunter!”  

I didn’t hear her voice again but instead there was another two shots in it's place, followed by the sound of tires on the dirt and inaudible swearing trailing off in the distance. I figured I should probably get up, but the sore feeling in my ass was making me dread the thought of it. I got to push myself up but I hear the voice again, “Don’t move!” I hear footsteps approaching my left side quickly, I watch as a slender female with a long black ponytail comes into view and shoots something in the distance, cringing as it explodes and the debris fly in all directions. “That was going to kill you as soon as you stood,” she pointed the gun in the direction of the dulling flames. “You’re welcome,” she smiles at me smugly.   

I wanted to thank her, to literally say anything in response, but I was so mesmerized by her face. It appeared that she was some sort of spider hybrid? She had six eyes, three on each side of her heart shaped face, biggest to smallest from top to bottom. Each eye was a lovely shade of golden brown and it seemed as if they were glowing, they were all decorated with a playful little wing of black eyeliner that looked perfect yet effortless. Her skin was a pale shade of lilac, and her bone structure was strong and full of angles. Her tiny pouty lips were covered in a deep shade of purple, and they slowly pulled behind her teeth as she smiled at me.  

“Thank you,” I finally manage to say.  

She swipes her hand in the air lazily,” Don’t worry about it. Newbies all get one favor.”  

I begin to try to get to my feet and she quickly rushes over to offer me her hand. Once I'm fully standing and straighten myself out I offer her a hand shake, “Eileithyia Moon.” 

“Wow that’s a badass name,” she blurts out and then cringes slightly at her own lack of filter. “Arachne,” she shakes my hand energetically.  

“Just Arachne?” I laugh slightly but not in a way that would mock her.  

“Yeah you know... like Cher,” she laughs and lets out a little snort. There was a momentary image of a majestic looking women in my head with long black hair and I wasn’t really sure why... 

“I like it,” I say as I take another look over to the bar.  

“Oh you don’t need to go in there, I lived in the slums all my lives, let me show you around.”  

“Are you some sort of tour guide?” I raise an eyebrow at her.  

She laughs and snorts again, “No I’m a bounty hunter. But keeps the community from going to shit when you help out the noobs.” She swings her pistol before putting it back in the holster on her right leg. “Now come on Eileith-,” she cut herself off and looks at me. “We’re gonna need to give you a nickname. That name of yours is a real mouthful. I’m gonna call you Thyia,” she nodded and smiled at me after she said it. She was beaming with pride and quickly turned on her heel heading past the bar in front of us.  

I noticed her outfit was a little similar to mine, wondering if Omni had unintentionally or intentionally stuck me in bounty hunter garb. For the next few minutes there wasn’t much noise but the sound of the dirt underneath our boots and Arachne’s overlyoptimistic humming. Her walk was almost like a skip and I found it hard to believe that she was a bounty hunter with such a welcoming demeanor. Before long we approached what seemed to be a small town, the only thing that was illuminated for miles in the vast desert. It was probably closer to a city than a town, but not quite city enough to be considered one.  

We passed groups of numerous creatures bursting with energy. Music echoed throughout the street but was nearly being drowned out by the buzz of all the voices. A tiny fairy-like woman nearly flew into my head and I heard her let out a squeak, “Watch where you’re going-” She cut short and her eyes widened. “I’m sorry I should watch where I’m going.” She quickly flew away from me over to a gaggle of tiny woman, I watched as she spoke to them and they all turned to stare at me. They were all different shades of pastel with pointy little ears and delicately angled features. Their eyes were entirely black but not in a menacing sort of way, it more or less added to the innocence of their entire appearance. Their wings flapped quickly to keep them suspended, and tiny flecks of glitter fell from them and dissapeared within the dirt beaneth their suspended figures. 

Arachne nudged me, “Come on now. I saved you from a bully don’t be picking on the little people.” She joked with me and giggled to herself, her boots audibly and rougly hitting the wooden porch of the bar in front of us. She grabbed the door knob with a beaming smile on her face, “Welcome to Kaishi.” As soon as the door was opened I was wafted by the smell of a crackling fire and many variations of alcohol. Booming laughter came from a large... gentlemen at the bar as he slammed his glass on the countertop in a fit of excitment. A woman with the face of a cat was positioned carefully at the pool table on the other side of the room, her feline eyes were narrowed as she focused on the table intently. The tip of her slender tale was moving back and forth like some sort of metronome as she concentrated deeply. We made our way to the bar where I accidentally brushed passed a man with yellow reptilian and eyes and serpetine features. He snapped his head in my direction, but to my surprise he didn’t say a word. His only responsse being a wink and a flick of his snake-like tongue in an almost vulgar manner, the gesture almost immediatly leaving me VERY uncomfortable. A pink flush finding it's way to my cheeks as the embarrassment laid claim to my entire expression, I was partially shy about how timid it made me feel than I was about the action itself.

I felt my face twist in discomfort as I moved closer to Arachne, “Lots of interesting characters here.”  

“You really are new?” she slapped my shoulder and pulled out a bar stool in front of me. I observed as she motioned the bartender over, which was immediately followed by thudding footsteps on the wooden floors behind the bar.  

Eventually a large minotaur appeared in front of us with absolutely, his face seemed more than unamused as he looked towards Arachne. He had, surprise, a septum piercing dangling from his nose but also an assortment of earings climbing up his ears like myself. He was wearing a leather vest, decorated in a variety of patches for things that were very foreign to me. He looked me up and down, “Playing welcome wagon again Arachne?” His voice was deep and indigenous, like maybe he came from an island.

If there were Islands in Novus...?

Yes Pilot, there are islands in Novus.

I was a little startled by Omni's interjection, and it almost felt a little invasive to know that she was quite literally always there. But something told me I was going to need her help if I was going to survive.

“I would like the Newbie special for my girl Thyia here and the usual for me,” she beamed at the big bull of a man.  

“You got lucre Arachne? I’m not runnin' a charity here...” he rolled his eyes. He rested his weight on his palms and placed them on the counter as he began to analyze me more closely. His eyes scanned me and his mouth twisted into a slight grin.  

“Yes, Ace I’ve got lucre! I finished a job a few hours ago.” She rolled her eyes in response and pulled out a small rectangular device from her breast pocket. The screen illuminated her face as she turned it on, she navigated the menus for a few minutes before there was a "ding' sound somewhere behind the bar.  

Ace looked to the screen in the center of the bar, “What about ya tab from te last tree nights Rackne?”

I had to assume this joke was directed at Arachne’s... ample bosom.  

“Don’t call me Rackne!” she slammed down on the counter like a child throwing a tantrum.

He laughed, “I'm just messin wit ya. That’s enough to cover ya, te witch drinks for free.” He turned to the bottles behind him, the wall was decorated with liquids I’ve never seen before. Of all different colors, some of which were glowing, and this both intrigued me and made me wonder if they might be dangerous.  

Arachne nearly shoved me off of the stool, “Get out!”  

I caught myself on the counter but moved my stool away from her slightly, “I’m sorry?” 

“You’re a witch!” her voice was so loud the entire bar went silent for a fraction of a second. I heard Ace chuckle behind the bar as he carefully poured liquid, shaking his head at Arachne's usual antics.  

For a few moments, ever pair of eyes in that bar were pointed in my direction. Luckily the chatter began again before long, and I couldn’t help but feel as though they were talking about me. Some may call it classic insecurity, but being what I was, I felt I had a good argument. “Thanks for that,” I say sarcastically.  

She looked at me apologetically, cringing as she speaks through her loosely clenched teeth. “Sorry about that.” She lowered her voice, and to my dismay, scooted her stool closer to me. “Witches are like obsolete... there was this huge war that wiped them out. I thought they were taken off the roaster unless you were...” she narrowed her eyes and met my gaze. I watched in horror as the realization hit her, and the split second it took this information the fly from her lips. “You’re a founder!”  

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

This time I didn’t say anything, I just glared at her while I gritted my teeth. “Why don’t you just paint a big red target on my back!” I snapped. There was a deep and malevolent undertone to my voice, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror behind the bar, and watched my green eyes bleed of color as they began to glow white. I inhaled and exhaled deeply as I closed my eyes and tried to calm myself. Another trademark of a witch was her temper, something Omni could of maybe warned me about but luckily it seemed this knowledge was coming back to me. I look over at Arachne who is cowering next to me, and I then realize the entire bar isn’t making a sound.  

Ace walks back over to me and places a purple drink in front of me, “Welcome ta Kaishi.” He offers a smile and I notice some of his teeth have been replaced with golden ones, he quickly turns and heads towards another customer beckoning him from the opposite end of the bar. “I like tis one,” he says in a low voice as he passes Arachne.   

Arachne sits up slightly but her posture is still defeated, “Sorry I-”  

“No,” I stop her. “I am sorry.”  

Her eyes slowly search for mine, and when our gazes meet a lovely smile spreads across her beautiful face once again. The childlike wonder begins to return to all six of her golden eyes, “I’m glad you decided not to kill me.  Apparently when your eyes go white like that I’m supposed to run. At least that's what I've read... the books seem a little biased.” She laughed nervously snorting again as she takes a sip of something that looked like some sort of beer.  

“No I uh... I’m not sure I could. Haven’t had much practice with this witch thing,” I say this so only she can hear. At the least, I needed to appear intimidating, even if I had no idea what the fuck I was doing. 

Good strategy.

Omni interjected in a rather sarcastic tone, which forced me to smile slightly to myself.

But Arachne roughly shoves my shoulder again, “This is Novus!” She pauses and looks around the bar as she raises her glass in the air, “The only limit is your imagination!”  

She is followed by a Chorus of, “to Novus.” Which appears to not only be coming from all around the bar, but outside as well. The clashing of glasses was heavy in the air as everyone rejoiced in this moment of comradery, followed by laughs and surge of positive energy. It was contagious, and the event brought a toothy smile to my face that I couldn't fight even if I had wanted to.

She was right, all I had to do was think it... and it was real.  

“Witches are like... god mode. That’s why the founders removed them from the roaster. They sort of formed this master race attitude... kind of like that one guy the ancient onces talk about.. and they needed to be exterminated.” Arachne spoke as she cringed a little. 

I couldn't help but take note of the her knowledge of the surface, some of which was old even before the war had started. “Oh,” I respond and my voice goes up an octave prior to taking the first sip of my drink. The liquid is a fruity explosion in my mouth and I can’t taste a bit of alcohol, which probably means it's very dangerous.  

“I heard they do a psych test now though so I don’t think we’ll have to burn you,” she says nonchalantly.  

I don’t respond, instead I gulp down the contents of my drink so greedily some it trails down my chin.  

“Whoa there, the newbie special will knock you off your ass,”  she lets out a laugh that turns nervous half way through.

I see Ace approaching us again and I yell to him, “I’ll take another!”  

“Ya got money? I’m sure bounty hunter here is tapped out,” he nudges Arachne as he passes by. “What I meant ta say earlier was... first drink for te witch is free.” 

“Right...” I start to search my jacket for one of those devices Arachne had. I eventually find it in a pocket deep within my jacket, my fingers search around the edges looking for a way to turn it on. The trim is white, it's thinner than any phone that I could remember, and the center it transparent showing my palm on the other side. I push down on the screen and to my surprise it turns on. Browsing around I look for anything that might relate to money. And then I remember Arachne and Ace saying something about Lucre earlier. Finally, I find what I’m looking for and an absurd number is displayed before my eyes, they light up like a kid looking at all their presents under the tree on Christmas morning. 

“Well,” Ace says impatiently as crosses his arm. 

I click to transfer one thousand lucre to Ace’s Place, probably having to do with the strong buzz that just hit me, and I hear the familiar "ding" sound behind the bar.  

“Ya didn’t even ask how much ya silly gal,” he laughs and shakes his head as he approaches the register. I watch his eyes nearly pop out of his skull, “I knew I was going ta like ya.”  

“And another for the spider lady!” I say excitedly. The first drink hitting me rather quickly, my alcohol tolerance was basically at a newborn level due to the fact that was basically... a newborn.  

A few hours passed, and many... many drinks. Arachne and I stumbled out of the bar in chorus of giggles, using each other to keep above ground. “You know,” she begins as she huffs. “You looked so lost on the ground there I really thought you were a noob.”  

We both burst out in laughter.  

“You know what’s ironic?,” I ask as I stop to catch my breath and use her shoulder as leverage. “I’m over a thousand years old!”  

We both laugh again, it seemed as the night went on I had recovered more of my worldly knowledge. I was beginning to feel less like a lost puppy and more like I was returning from vacation. We began to recover from our fit of laughter as footsteps began to approach us. It was about four in the morning and the streets were nearly deserted, it was strange to see them so quiet after what I had seen earlier. “You can crash at my place,” she grins at me.

I had to admit, Arachne was changing the way I felt about spiders.  

“Well look who the fuck we have here,” an arrogant voice cut the air around us.  

I turned to see man who was partially robot. Actually, half of his body was man and the other half was robot. I fought the urge to bash is unoriginal avatar, and decided to glare at him instead. “Excuse me?”  

“It’s the Wicked Bitch of the Kaishi Slums,” he turned and laughed with his friends. They were both also some sort of cyborg, but they looked to be probably at their first augmentation. Where this asshole was almost at his final form. 

“Excuse me?” the words are calmer than I feel.  

“Some rumor going around that there’s a witch here in the slums,” he takes a swig of a bottle I’m noticing for the first time. “I didn’t believe it for a minute. But here the fuck you are.”  

I cross my arms and sway slightly betraying my tough girl act, “Problem?”  

“Well yeah... funny you ask,” he takes one last drink and smashes the bottle on the ground.

Fucking litter bug!

“I got a big fucking problem!” he puts his palm out to me and I watch as it begin to glow in same fashion of a particular comic book character.

“Enough,” I say quietly as I watch his muscles freeze in place. “I think you have said quite enough sir,” I take slow and calculated steps towards his frozen body and stumble slighty. “Now here is the problem with your problem.” I put my face closely to his, my nostrils are assaulted with his stale stench of booze and sweat which forces me to grimace in reaction. “I don’t fucking care. And now, you’ll stay here until you’ve learned your lesson young man,“ I grin at him and watch his eyes widen in horror. He was only frozen, and eventually he would thaw, and be free to be an asshole to someone else.

Turning on my heel, and nearly falling over, I look back to see Arachne standing there with her mouth hanging open as she says, “Wow.”  

I won’t lie I felt pretty badass. Like, REALLY badass. Considering I was having a hard time keeping upright, it probably didn't look nearly as cool as I thought.

“Shall we?” I say to Arachne as I trot by her. She follows behind and I hear the crunching of her footsteps as we walk quietly and enjoy the silence. Eventually we reach a cute little bakery and Arachne pushes past me towards a staircase on the side of the building. I follow as she climbs the stars slowly and carefully, once she reaches the top she pats her jacket in a search for her keys. Finally, she retrieves them and it is painful to watch her struggle as she tries to fit the key into the hole. I even go to open my mouth to offer to help a few times but realize I am staggering pretty badly and breathing pretty loudly, so I may not be much help.

Finally, she opens the door and nearly falls inside but uses the doorknob to keep herself standing. It’s fairly dark so I can’t really see anything but Aracne starts furiously throwing the couch cushions onto the floor. She pauses in the middle and holds her palm out to me just before she wretches. She breathes deeply and then laughs, “I’m good.”  

Shifting my weight awkwardly I try to find something to lean on as the room begins to spin.  

“The couch is a pull out,” Arachne breathes heavily as she finally finds the handle for the bed. She yanks furiously, even using her foot for leverage, but she can’t seem to get it to move.  

Making my way to her and nearly falling I decide it would be brilliant to grab the handle as well. “Okay... on three... one...two...three!” And what happened next, is the only thing that could of possibly happened. The both of us, are propelled into the wall behind us, and to add insult to injury, the bed is only pulled out half of the way. After a moment, I force myself to get up and hear Arachne snoring next to me on the floor. I pull the bed out the rest of the way, carefully making sure that I don’t drop it on her. Once it is safely down I collapse on top of it and immediately fall asleep. 

I’m woken up by the thud of Arachne moving underneath the bed, “Ouch!” I hear things moving around underneath me until she finally appears on the floor, crawling like an inch warm. The light from and open shade feels like a million suns are burning my retnas, i cover my eyes as soon as I open then an regret my decision all together. I hear Arachne messing with the shade and open one eye to see her closing it from the floor.  

“Thank you,” I say in a hoarse voice. Afraid to speak to much as I am fighting the urge to run to the bathroom and be parted with the mostly liquid contents of my stomach. 

“No,” she starts to speak but cuts herself off to take a deep breath and fight a wave of nausea. “Problem,” she finishes. 

We lay like that for a few hours, fully aware that the other is awake but having no will to speak. I finally find the strength to get up and look for water, she must of heard me because I see her head emerge from the floor for the first time.  

“Please help me,” she pleads.  

“Where is the water,” I beg as I lean against her open refrigerator.  

“It’s on the door,” she says as she attempts to get to her feet.  

“You’re lying!” I examine the inside of both doors and don’t find anything.  

“The outside!” she nearly yells followed by a gag.

Normally I may have been insulted by her tone, but the only thing that mattered right now was water. Flipping through the cabinets I eventually find a glass and violently shove it at the door. I listen as it fills and realize how badly I have urinate. Ignoring my screaming bladder, I chug down my first glass and feel my organs sing the chorus. I fill the glass again as Arachne makes her way over to me and grabs her own glass from the cabinet. And then something occurs to me...  

“Wait if I’m a witch I can like fix this?”  

“Fix what? Fix me?” she asks after downing her first glass of water. "Please fix me," she whispers to herself.  

I don’t answer I simply hold my glass in front of me and close my eyes, picturing a golden liquid filling the cup. I open one and look down at the cup, to my surprise it actually worked. Lifting it to my nose, I inhale deeply. It smells like hot chocolate? 

Novus brew. A healing potion, a flavorless liquid that takes on properties of the user's favorite drink. The recipe has been lost for centuries.  

Omni?  

Yes Pilot. I am always here. It seems you subconsciously made this potion for yourself. The recipe is identical to that of the Novus brew.  

Unintentionally?  

Yes. Your memories that I gave you back. There are so many it will take time until you have fully returned to yourself.   

Well uh thanks Omni...  

You’re welcome, Pilot.  

Arachne’s eyes widen, “What is that?”  

“Novus brew,” I say before I chug the entire contents of the glass. I can feel the life returning to my muscles and the moisture returning to my mouth that, moments ago, was the desert. “Woo! That’s some good shit!” I can’t help but yell and slam my glass down on the counter.

I want to do FUCKING backflips right now!

Arachne raises an eyebrow at me before holding out her glass towards me, I grip the bottom with my fingertips and watch as it fills from the bottom. She pulls the glass away and gives it a suspicious sniff, she looks at me in surprise and then throws it down the hatch. Closing half of her eyes she looks into the glass after she's finished, just to make sure hasn't miss a single drop. “Where’d you get that stuff?” she asks as she grins from ear to ear. “I think it gave me back my will to live. Can a drink do that? Well... besides alcohol.”  

I let out a loud an enrgetic cackle, Arachne gives me a look like I've lost my mind which I ignore, because my stomach let out a monstrous growl. I realize, I haven't eaten the whole time I've been here. “Let’s grab breakfast, my treat?” I offer and unfortunately, I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror as I walk by. It isn't pleasant. "Maybe... after a shower,” I say as head towards the bathroom.

Arachne raises an arm and sniffs as she leans against the counter, “Agreed.” 

We head out of the door after scrubbing detoxing in a steaming shower (separately... perv), I emerged from that steam filled bathroom as a new woman. Arachne let me borrow a shirt and a pair of jeans after I realized I didn’t have any possessions. Let’s just say my first night in Kaishi wasn’t exactly productive, but I definitely didn't regret it. We began navigating our way through an intense street soccer game between some young goblins that was right outside of Arachne's apartment. Getting out of the way just in time for the game to escalate into a full blown fist fight, the sound of their slightly high-pitched voices began to curse, and I started to hear the thud of fists hitting flesh.  

“Fucking goblins,” Arachne rolled her eyes and pulled her phone out of her pocket. “Well it’s a little late for breakfast.”  

My stomach growled loudly, "I don’t care what it is. As long as it’s edible.”  

“Hmm edible really limits our choices, “she joked as she tapped her chin. “This way madame,“ she dramatically put on foot in front of the other and headed down the dirt road.