Maya kept her face straight and raised an eyebrow.

“Fascinating. I guess he was named after this warlord.”

“Strange person to name your kid after,” the Broker replied. “Cyll and another warlord had a big dispute. Cyll killed him. Then he found every single trace of the other warlord and wiped it off the face of the earth. His name is gone. As are all of his descendants. Nobody knows who he is.”

“That…seems a bit overkill,” Maya agreed. “But I’m afraid I don’t see your point. Are you implying that man is the Cyll in my crew?”

“Don’t play dumb with me. We both know he is. I heard about how a guildsman stabbed him, but there’s no wound on his body. The man is immortal.”

Maya opened her mouth to protest. The Broker slammed his hands into the table, but it wasn’t anger that twisted his features. It was excitement.

“But that doesn’t matter either. I couldn’t care less about the past. I deal in present information. So, with two crewmembers as fascinating as yours, I figured the captain must have been someone amazing,” the Broker said.

“And?” Maya asked.

“You’re nothing,” the Broker breathed. “And don’t take that as an insult. I mean it literally. There is no trace of you. No family, no deeds, nothing. As of yesterday, I read through the names of every single person that has lived in Ashwind city. Until just a few days ago, you don’t exist. Why?”

“I’m sorry?” Maya blinked. She waited a moment to see if the Broker would burst into laughter, but the man was serious. “I’ve got no idea what you’re talking about. I’ve lived in Ashwind for as long as I can remember.”

The Broker tilted his head. A slow grin spread across his face.

“You’re lying,” he whispered confidently.

Maya frowned, her eyes narrowing. The Broker matched her gaze with a smug smirk.

“How can you tell? You can tell when people lie, can’t you? That’s how you can get all your information,” Maya realized. The grin on the man’s face faded slightly.

“Very astute. I can determine the truth in people’s words. Even if they don’t know it’s true themselves. I’ve always been fascinated with knowledge, so this was the perfect awakened ability for me. Did you know that people awaken what they desire most?” The Broker asked suddenly.

“Vaguely. I never had very much Essence and nobody talked to me about awakening my abilities when I was younger,” Maya said. “All I knew is what I heard people mention as they passed me in the markets.”

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“I see. Well, this gives me quite the conundrum. You see, Maya, somebody is covering up your tracks. Nobody just ‘doesn’t exist’. And I want to know why,” The Broker said. You tell me that and get me my ring back, and I’ll tell you everything you need to know. On top of that, I’ll wipe your info from my own written records. Nobody will hear a word about you from me.”

Maya took her hat off and frowned at the eccentric man across from her. She ran a hand through her hair and sighed.

“Why do you care so much?” She asked.

“Because you know something that I don’t,” the Broker said. “I can just feel it. You aren’t telling the world something. It’ll never pass to anyone from my lips, but I want to know it. I need to know it. Who are you, Maya? What drives you?”

“And if I don’t say?”

“You can go on your way. I’ll tell you the general location of the replacement for your Life-spark, but you’ll never find it. It’s too well hidden. I’ll also sell your information to every single one of your enemies,” the Broker replied promptly.

Maya scoffed and put her hat back onto her head.

“Fair enough. If you give me your word that this stays between us, you can hear my tale up until the day I met Cyll,” Maya said.

She extended her hand. Practically salivating, the Broker grabbed it and shook firmly.

“I'll start from the beginning. When I was eight, my parents tried to kill a god.”

----------------------------------------

Wind ripped through Maya’s long hair. Despite the near deafening noise of the air howling in her ears, the young girl smiled in relief. The enormous leaf beneath her feet, large enough to place an enormous house on, swayed ever so slightly in the breeze.

“Wow. It’s so beautiful up here,” the young Maya said, her wide eyes desperately drinking up the world around her. The ground was countless feet below them – so far that it wasn’t even visible as the clouds blocked it out.

A tall man ruffled her hair affectionately. He wore thin yet durable armor that had been scarred with scratches and deep gouges that revealed the skin below. Several of the wounds still bled, and most of the damage done to his armor was recent.

“Remember it, May. Not many people get to see the world from the top of Yggdrasill. Even less see it at your age,” the man said, smiling down at her. His gaze contained none of the happiness that his voice conveyed.

“Yes, father,” Maya replied, hugging his leg.

A spot a few feet away from them on the enormous leaf shimmered with blue light. A moment later, a beautiful woman with a sharp jawline and ice blue eyes appeared out of thin air. The man hugged her briefly.

“Sorrow is already here,” the woman said. “He’s waiting for us at the top of the tree with his crew. We’ll get the payment for guiding them through the dungeon once he defeats the boss monster.”

Maya’s father let out a relieved sigh.

“Good. I’ve had it with that man, and I’ll be glad to be off this tree. It’s beautiful, but I can’t stand the stress for another second. I keep thinking we’ll get blown off by a gust of wind.”

Maya wandered over to the woman and tugged at her leather armor.

“Mom, when will you teach me how to turn into blue stuff and fly?” Maya asked.

Her mother laughed and picked the small girl up to hug her. Maya squirmed in annoyance, but the girl let her mother hold her for a few more moments before she slipped to the ground.

“We’ll see what I can do once we get back. This job is going to pay very well, so we can all spend some time relaxing together. Now, let’s get going. Sorrow is impatient, and I want to be off this tree just as much as both of you.”