Kita and Raya have made their way back to the busy passageways of Canyon City. The rising sun beams against a giant tarp that covers the entryway to the city like a great wall of material. The city doesn't expand the entirety of the Canyon, and to avoid myst entering any large openings, this end of the city also acts as a gateway.

A few small gaps are cut at the base of the fabric to allow passage in and out of the city, leading both of them straight into the poor district. It probably has a name, but Kita has no idea what that might be.

She just wants to get to the strip so she can eat something. The growling of her stomach last night kept waking her up, so her mood's a bit grim this morning.

Fuck!

She turns to Raya with a panicked look on her face. Her mouth hangs open as she swallows in hesitation as she thinks of asking Raya a dreaded question.

"Do you have any coin," Kita sighs, expecting the worst.

"Why?" Raya asks.

"Seriously? You're not starving?"

"I've been trained to withstand the body's urge for food,"

"Ugh," Kita rolls her eyes. "Well, I wasn't. If I don't eat something soon, I might have to eat some of these poor people,"

"I'll snag some coin once we reach the strip," Raya winks at Kita, prompting a sense of relief in Kita.

"I think we should be friends again," Kita smiles, now thinking about what to order. But her excitement dwindles at the smell of what she could only describe as death. It's putrid here. As if these people have been shitting on the very ground they walk on. Trash is scattered around all the tents and pathways, buried in what better be mud.

Every person they walk past looks sick, or pale. Food must be scarce for most people here. Coin must be hard to come by. They're all dressed in grey or black rags. Nothing good for travelling or even warmth.

"Glad I won't have to eat them," Kita spews, "This is gross,"

"Wealth is so poorly distributed in many cities. The elites of this world are truly fowl,"

"No, no. I was talking about all of these poor people,"

"What?" Raya's expression drops in confusion.

"They all look like they're dying. Maybe I should just end their misery and consume them," Kita chuckles. It's not a bad idea- These people couldn't defend themselves anyway. They're probably weak because they don't get enough food.

"This is no laughing matter," Raya chides Kita, "These people are being mistreated. They deserve better,"

"I can give them better," Kita scoffs,

"Death is not a solution to suffering,"

"Excuse me, wealthy elites, would you mind sharing your coin with the deprived?" Kita jests.

"A forceful hand is needed," Raya responds, clenching her fist as she continues to observe the mess.

"I'd love to see that forceful hand of yours, Princess," Kita teases.

•°•°•°•

The two of them made their way to the strip without any issues. Raya used the coin she had to buy the both of them a meal. A crispy dough-like bun with lettuce, tomato, and some type of meat inside it- Apparently it's called beef. They got it from the only kitchen in the city that sells beef, so it was really expensive. But Kita managed to hassle Raya until she gave in, despite her overwhelming reluctance.

Worth it.

The chef told them it's a dish created by the old humans. They would usually add a slice of cheese as well but that would have doubled the price of the meal. If Kita had more souls, she'd have tried to scare the guy into adding the cheese for free.

Oh well, she'll just bring more coin next time. Something seems sacrilegious about harming the chef. He's a genius. A sorcerer of taste. He deserves the coin, honestly.

"How are we going to find this kid, Jan?" Raya asks Kita.

Kita holds up a finger, signalling Raya to wait as Kita takes the last bite of her meal- Closing her eyes to savour the taste. Her body must remember this meat, and find it in every life she lives. She's probably had it before, but it seems like a plus side of dying is that she can have experiences for the first time again.

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Kita opens her eyes and points to the clutter of bridges suspended between the two walls of the canyon, where a group of guys occupy one of the walkways- Each of them puffing out smoke as they chat away.

"They're Vald's raiders?"

"The ones who captured me. Those assholes deserve a beating," Kita says.

"How do you plan on achieving that with only one spell?"

"I'd have more if you let me consume those poor people,"

"Ugh," Raya scoffs, "I'll handle them. Just cast a shield,"

"Thank you, Princess," Kita chuckles.

They both leave the bustling strip and head towards a suspended bridge that leads to the network above. They slowly approach the wafts of smoke before Raya tells Kita to stop at the end of the bridge- quite a distance away from the raiders. None of them pays any attention to Raya and Kita beyond a few glances, presuming they're just a few civilians.

That prick is here too. The one with the glasses and steel teeth that gave her the smug smile. Talked to Kita like she was a nuisance.

I want his soul.

"The jerk with the sunglasses and steel teeth," Kita says.

"What about him?" Raya asks.

"He's the one we'll question,"

Raya nods as she crouches beside Kita and draws a small handgun that she had holstered in her pants. She holds a second magazine in her hand as she finds a comfortable grip on the weapon.

"Ready?" Kita asks.

"Mhmm," Raya grunts, aiming down the sight of her weapon.

"Hey, asshole!" Kita yells across the bridge.

The soft chatter she heard swiftly dissipates as she grabs their attention. They all turn to her with uninviting glares. The sunglasses guy steps out from amongst his group of friends, raising his glasses to squint across the bridge.

"Is that the lying girl I see?" He chuckles.

"Do you work for Chevo?" She calls out sarcastically before casting the shield around herself and Raya.

The guy steps back, noticing that Raya has a weapon. But a quick shot to his thigh drops him to the floor, wailing in pain. Raya fires at the rest of the group, with brief intervals between each shot as she shifts her aim. Trying to use a single bullet to take out each of them.

They are all in a panic as the ticking of Raya's gunfire hits them one at a time. A few of them fire back amongst the mass shuffling but to no avail. Each bullet received is caught in Kita's shield and then falls to the floor. Raya reloads her weapon after taking out half of the crowd and continues her merciless firing.

This is more of a massacre than a beating. Kita loves it. She feels nothing for these bastards and after trying to imprison her, this is merely a debt being repaid. Next time they should listen to Kita when she tells them she has no idea who the fuck Chevo is.

But there won't be a next time. Not for most of them.

Kita drops her shield as she hears the second click of Raya's weapon. She hastily runs towards the asshole who somehow kept his sunglasses on this whole time.

She grabs him by the collar as he mumbles in pain, clutching his leg.

"Where's the boy?" Kita interrogates him with rage-filled eyes.

"What boy?" He asks.

Kita kicks the wound in his leg, prompting him to scream. "Wrong answer," She says with an unblinking glare into his eyes.

"Where is Jan?" Kita yells at the prick with the sunglasses.

"Are you talking about the kid without a soul?" He asks, clutching onto his wounded leg.

"That's the one," Kita confirms, threatening to step on his bullet wound again.

"Vlad went to trade him to some rich folk in the East,"

"Who?" Kita prys.

"I don't know," The guy squirm's at Kita's aggression. "Some family that collects the soulless,"

"What's the name of the city?" Raya asks from behind Kita.

"It doesn't have one," He responds with worry, "But I know it floats on a river or something,"

Kita releases his collar, shoving him to the ground as she does.

"We even now?" He asks as he tries to sit up again.

Kita doesn't respond. She just raises a hand towards his face and consumes the shadowy soul from his body before it crashes to the ground.

"Yeah, we're even," Kita responds.

"I made sure not to kill them all," Raya says, pointing to a few of the groaning groupies on the ground. "Eat up,"

Kita walks amongst the raiders' bodies, searching for ones that still hold life. As she stands above the few who do, she draws each of their souls into the palm of her hand.

"So, we're going East?" Raya asks, picking up a few magazines for her handgun from the raiders' bodies. She also loots each of them for any coin they might have and places it in a backpack she got from one of them.

"You're coming with me?" Kita asks, surprised considering their deal has technically come to a close.

"If the kid knows something about the dark one. I want to hear it,"

"It's okay to admit you're totally obsessed with me," Kita chuckles.

"It's more like enjoying the taste of poison," Raya responds.

Kita feels a potent shudder throughout her body as she consumes the last living souls among them. Having consumed each of them in succession, she realizes the sensation that passes through her gets better the more souls she already has- She couldn't imagine how orgasmic two hundred feels.

"I want more," Kita blurts out with a grit in her voice. A lower-pitched voice harmonizing with her own.

It scares her. Snapping her out of her momentary daze. For a brief moment, she lost herself. She took a back seat to something else… Someone else.