The nearest city is about a day's walk from the old lady's tent. Kita’s been trekking for about half a day so far. Hopefully, the myst isn’t due to pass through anytime soon- It's essentially a global sandstorm. A neverending raid of the lands that it crosses, leaving the entire world devoid of any life that can't evade it. That is why there is no greenery on any of the landscape, no living thing beyond what is cultivated in cities. Apparently millions of 'species' died out after the myst began. It's difficult for her to imagine what a world with more than humans would be like. Surely it would be more beautiful than this. The myst consumes all life in its path, and it has been here for as long as anyone alive today can remember.

She walks amongst the desert of dirt, sprinkled with the occasional dead tree trunk and nothing else. It's so boring out here. This world's creator only had a shit-coloured paint when he decided to brush the globe.

She should learn how to predict it- Maybe she did learn it? God, that’s annoying. How much did she forget? One would assume knowing magic is a sort of muscle memory, yet she knows nothing of absorbing souls. Is there a chant she needs to say? How many souls is enough? Two? Three? The thought of killing that many people creates an anxiety in her stomach. How does she even do it without being seen?

Having to deal with all of this because of one person is a suffering of its own. The dark one… It feels like Kita knows who it is. Her memory only draws a silhouetted figure but it’s not their appearance she knows. The thought of the dark one brings a shudder to her knees, an internal fear that must have brewed over many deaths.

If this magic thing is true, it makes sense that she needs the souls of others to replace her own. The dark one took hers, and she'll need the magic to fight him. So, the first order of business is getting her hands on a few souls. This shouldn't be too tough. She'll enter the city at late night and knock on a few doors- Yeah! Maybe she can find a family, have a bunch of souls grouped up in one place and… Consume…

Wait… Knocking is stupid, nobody here would answer to that in the dead of night unless they want to just hand their belongings to raiders. Those sneaky bastards really know how to steal and then vanish amongst the mass shuffle of cities relocating.

Maybe she should take their souls? They're bad people, right? She could be like, a hero. Yeah, saving the city folk from bandits and raiders. She can be the anti-dark one- The light one!

"Don't be alarmed," Kita exclaims with her bellowing hero voice to the vast nothingness, imagining a slew of civilians raising their hands towards her as she descends from the sky. "I have come to save you from the dark one, my children. My only wish is that you fix me a great feast upon my success,"

"uuuaaaaa" She mimics a crowd's excitement, raising her hands to the air to turn and wave in the distance. In her rotation, a few lights catch the corner of her eye. She looks ahead of her to see a large, multi-patched tarp extending across the top of a quaking canyon at the base of the mountain ahead. This must be one big city for them to have covered up the entire canyon. How long will it be here? With the mountain behind it, it seems like a pretty good spot.

Multi-coloured lights flicker from beneath the giant tarp, as the sound of a busy marketplace catches her attention. As she reaches the edge of the canyon, she can peek between the gap of the tarp and the cliff to see tents and tipis fill her view. Large tents suspended against the walls of the canyon with various makeshift walkways dangling between stores and homes. On the ground, she can see two sections. One which has much smaller tipis and tents tightly packed together- That's definitely where the poor people live. And another that is a bustling, multicoloured marketplace, with steel-built stores, street carts, brothels, and all of them with their unique neon signs outstretched above them. How long have they been here? She wonders as she looks for the nearest path down to the city.

The city heads must take good care of their panels to have this much light in the evening. The living district is much darker, but a few warm lights emanate from them. The fancier tents suspended on the walls all have lots of lights inside them… Seemingly more than they would need, but whatever- Kita can't be bothered by socio-economic issues. Her focus is her soul, she can think about all that once she gets her shit together.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

"Oh no!" She exclaims sarcastically, "How will I be a hero if I don't care?"

She pauses for a moment, contemplating the deep ethics of her state of mind. What is the magic's intended use if it is fueled by the souls of others? Is she obligated to aid those from which she takes? Is she expected to create a natural push and pull between evil and good, to ease the suffering within their world- She strokes her chin before seeing a bridge that leads towards the city.

"Hmph," She chuckles to herself before thinking- I could use something to eat.

•°•°•°•

Kita's made her way down to the market district of the city. It smelt so good over here that she couldn't help but follow the scent. Tragically, she's been left wanting as she came to realize these losers want coin in exchange for food. So, now she stands at a table amongst the wafting smells of deliciousness, in a permanent state of salivation as she thinks of a plan to take some souls… and some coin.

As she stood pondering, a tall lady with orange hair and a very tight skirt steps up to the table Kita is standing at. Now beside Kita, she flips her white-haired fringe to reveal her bright, pink eyes before she places a hand to rest on one of Kita's. "Hey sweetheart, looking for someone to rub up on?"

Kita blushes, awkward and caught off guard, all she can muster out is- "Woah… You're hot,"

The tall lady chuckles, leaning closer to Kita's face. She can feel the lady's warm breath ease against her lips. "So are you, sweetheart" She responds.

"I mean, I would love to, b-but…"

"Buuut?" The lady teases, resting a finger on Kita's lip and fluttering her eyes as she gazes into Kita's.

"Well, I'm kind of on a mission to save the world,"

"Oh," The lady giggles, "So you're a hero?"

"Something like tha-" Kita is thrown off guard by the pink-eyed lady suddenly drawing her tongue against Kita's cheek. Slowly, she feels the warm, soft, moisture move from beside her lip and then stop beside her eyebrow.

"You could be our hero for tonight," The tall lady whispers into Kita's ear with her soft, seductive voice.

"Our?" Kita asks, prompting a shirtless man in latex pants to stand on the other side of her. Is this some rehearsed seduction shit? Because it's working. His body is so well defined, with a chest that looks like two soft pillows- she just wants to know what it's like to lay her head on them.

"We need you to save us," He whispers to her.

"You're super hot too," She stammers, now unnerved by the sexiness that surrounds her.

"What do you say?" The pink-eyed girl asks.

"I really would love to. But, I just can't right now," Kita responds nervously and lowers her eye contact. Not because she's shy, but because she fucking broke! Damnit.

"That's alright," They both respond in unison.

"We'll be here for you once your mission is completed," The pink-eyed girl winks at Kita, gently brushing Kita's arm before stepping away.

"Good luck, babe," The topless guy says, blowing a kiss before walking away with the pink-eyed girl.

Another reason to get her hands on some coin. Damnit, soulless and poor. Both of these can't stand. Since her need for coin has arisen, she concludes the best tent to rob would be one of the shining ones suspended against the wall of the canyon. They're larger and well-lit, so presumably they're richer. She scouts out a few of the tents in the air, figuring out a way to discern ones that are more likely to have a family in them. But they're all huge. Capable of fitting much more than just a family, but easily of a few residents of the city too.

This is becoming very hero-like. It brings a smile to her face. The plan is clear- Take from the greedy rich, to give to the poor… Well, herself. But she is poor so it still counts. She wouldn't donate her chance for a few meals and sex.

What if they put up a fight though? Her body is still a little tender but she's quite certain she can make this work. They're just normal people anyway, her body will probably heal back to normal once she gets some souls. The thought of getting stronger satiates her mind more than the thought of food or sex, so she's perfectly content to improvise if things go a bit south. As long as she gets those souls.

She locates a large, two-story tent that she marks as her target for no reason in particular. It's the first one she glanced at when she decided to decide.

"Time to feed," She chuckles to herself as she heads toward the tent.